Election Commission opposes barring fugitives from candidacy, backs 3-year retirement rule for NGO officials

It also says holding local government elections before national polls will delay the latter

The Election Commission (EC) has disagreed with key recommendations by the Election System Reform Commission, including barring fugitives from contesting elections, removing the 3-year retirement requirement for private sector executives, and forming an independent probe into alleged irregularities in the 2018 parliamentary polls.

The Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) AMM Nasir Uddin-led commission has also opposed the proposal to cancel the registration of political parties that were newly registered in 2023.

In a letter to the Consensus Commission, which is headed by Chief Advisor Muhammad Yunus, the EC expressed concerns that restricting fugitives from candidacy could be exploited for political purposes.

The EC also defended the current provision allowing NGO officials receiving foreign funds to contest elections only after a three-year retirement period.

On the 2018 election probe, the commission argued that investigating only the 11th general election and canceling new party registrations for the 12th parliament could create bias.

The EC also said holding local government elections before national polls would delay the latter.

The Election System Reform Commission had submitted a comprehensive set of recommendations to the interim government over a month ago.

The Consensus Commission has since been gathering political parties' feedback on these proposals.

In this context, the EC, as a constitutional body, has rejected suggestions that it believes would undermine its independence.

The letter, signed by EC Senior Secretary Akhter Ahmed and sent to Consensus Commission Vice Chairman Prof Ali Riaz, detailed the EC’s stance against specific recommendations. Copies of the letter were also forwarded to the cabinet secretary, the chief advisor’s principal secretary, and the parliament Secretariat.

CEC Nasir Uddin has strongly criticised at least three key proposals of the Reform Commission.

He argued that handing over post-election investigations to a parliamentary standing committee and creating independent bodies for constituency delimitation and voter list management would weaken the EC’s autonomy.

On Monday, EC Secretary Akhter confirmed that the commission had expressed reservations on seven to ten issues in the letter, elaborating further on a couple of points.

When asked whether the letter explicitly mentioned concerns about the EC’s independence, he said: “Why do we provide opinions? We believe our independence is being curtailed; otherwise, we wouldn’t have responded.

“Whether our opinion is accepted or not is up to the relevant authority. But we have the right to express our views,” he added.