Badiul Alam flags 7 obstacles to free, fair general elections

He says that credible elections alone cannot ensure a sustainable democratic system

SHUJAN Secretary Badiul Alam Majumdar has outlined seven major ‘obstacles’ on the path to free, fair, and credible elections.

The obstacles are, he explained, criminalisation in the election and political spheres, the influence of black money in elections, ineffectiveness of the Election Commission, inactivity of civil society, partisanship of the caretaker government during elections and centralisation of power.

The former head of the Election Reform Commission shared his views at a roundtable organized by SHUJAN on Tuesday at the CIRDAP auditorium in Dhaka, according to a press release.

Badiul presented the keynote paper at the roundtable.

“The future of credible elections, peaceful transfer of power, and democratic transition will depend on overcoming these complex and growing obstacles. This will require a number of legal, institutional, and structural reforms,” he said.

He said free and fair elections were a prerequisite for establishing a sustainable democratic system, but they were not ‘sufficient’.

“Our past experience shows that even though free and fair elections can establish the so-called ‘one-day democracy’ by ensuring the right to vote, they do not necessarily lead to a genuine democratic transition,” he said.

“Although elections are a fundamental and highly important component of democracy, they alone cannot ensure a robust democratic journey. For the democratic system to have a solid foundation, it is essential to get rid of the ‘democratic deficit,’ which requires a number of far-reaching reforms,” said Badiul Alam.

He said the dreams of independence were yet to be materialised.

“The mass uprising of 2024 has created hope among the people that authoritarian rule would not return, the electoral system would be purified, and democracy would take institutional form,” he said.