TIB demands law to appoint election commissioners

Transparency International, Bangladesh (TIB) has held the absence of any law in line with the Constitution responsible for repeated complexities in the appointment of election commissioners.

The organisation came up with its observation and demanded the passage of a law immediately to appoint the commissioners on Wednesday amid a growing debate in the political arena over the issue ahead of the end of the current Election Commission's tenure in February next year.

Ruling Awami League leaders have hinted at the formation of a search committee to constitute the EC as before.

For its part, the BNP has demanded forming the EC on the basis of a consensus of all political parties, accusing the current EC of acting on government orders.

TIB in a statement said it was possible to pass a necessary law before the end of the current EC's tenure.

TIB Executive Director Iftekharuzzaman said the appointment of election commissioners without any law was a violation of Section 118 (1) of the Constitution.

"This is also causing a decline in people's confidence in the Election Commission and the election system," he said in the statement.

Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmad and the four other commissioners were appointed through a search panel in 2012 following talks between the then president late Zillur Rahman and the political parties, including the Awami League and BNP.

Most of the political parties had recommended the formation of the search committee.

Responding to a call from the president, the Awami League and several other parties submitted the names of the persons they wanted to see in the EC. The BNP did not suggest any name.

The committee, after screening, short-listed 10 persons.

The president picked five of them and formed the incumbent Election Commission.