Commissioners vent anger as Bangladesh EC is at war with itself

The four election commissioners have vented their anger at a meeting of the commission after the latest exposure of the power struggle that has embroiled it.

Moinul Hoque Chowdhurybdnews24.com
Published : 11 Dec 2019, 08:56 PM
Updated : 11 Dec 2019, 08:56 PM

The battle revealed itself publicly yet again in a nasty spat between the bureaucracy and the constitutional office when Mahbub Talukdar, Rafiqul Islam, Kabita Khanam, and Shahadat Hossain Chowdhury spoke out against the recruitment process at the commission’s 56th meeting on Wednesday.

They also spoke about the authority of the Election Commission Secretariat, which was not in the meeting’s agenda.

Chief Election Commissioner KM Nurul Huda assured them of discussing the issues later to find solutions.

Rafiqul told bdnews24.com: “We made known our statements. The commission must work as a single entity. I’ve also spoken about the need to work in line with the rules and regulations.”   

The commissioner said they discussed two sections of the law related to the EC.

“There must be coordination. But nothing on amending these was discussed. The previous commission discussed the issue as well. We want everything to be done in line with the law,” he said.

The CEC promised them that he will look into the issues to thrash out a solution, he added.

Talukdar, who has been at odds with his colleagues on several occasions and recently alleged whimsical actions at the commission’s secretariat, declined comment on details of the meeting over phone.

Sources in the EC said one of the commissioners slated the secretariat for its response to an “unofficial note”, which the commissioner had issued in protest against keeping them in the dark about EC hiring process.

“The EC Secretariat’s response was nothing but an evil attempt at character assassination of the commissioners. The response was insulting for the commissioners,” a source quoted the commissioner as saying in the meeting.

Two other commissioners expressed dissatisfaction over the EC Secretariat’s work.

The sources requested not to be named as they were not authorised to speak to the media.

The four commissioners last month handed CEC Nurul Huda the “unofficial note” over recruitment in a longstanding power struggle.

Such a conflict took place at the EC headed by Nurul Huda before the general election last year when the commissioners had alleged they had not been kept in the loop about some important decisions.

An office order had been issued to inform the commissioners about the decisions following the rules then.

In the latest note, the commissioners said CEC Huda backed Secretary Md Alamgir when the latter responded to a commissioner’s question by saying that the issue was beyond their authority in a meeting on Nov 14.

The secretary also said the commission’s permission is required by the law only for issues related to polls while the EC Secretariat takes steps on other issues following the CEC’s consent.

The commissioners disagree.

They say the secretary’s remarks indicate that the EC Secretariat staff are not under full control of the EC, but only under the CEC and the secretary, which will hinder efforts to ensure transparency and accountability.

The commissioners have also said such actions clearly breach the law.

After Wednesday’s meeting, Secretary Alamgir declined revealing the discussions, saying the issues were “internal” and “confidential”.

“There can be disagreements on many issues at work. But I won’t call it a conflict,” he added.