Bangladesh to ‘curtail Election Commission’s powers’ to suspend voting  

Law Minister Anisul Huq presents amendments to the Representation of the People Order in parliament

Senior Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 5 June 2023, 05:01 PM
Updated : 5 June 2023, 05:01 PM

Law Minister Anisul Huq has presented amendments to the Representation of the People Order in parliament, including a provision that will allegedly limit the powers of the Election Commission to postpone voting in entire electoral areas.

Once the Bill on the amendments is passed, the EC will be able to suspend voting only in polling stations where violence or irregularities are reported, Anisul said after placing the Bill on Monday.

The law minister and an election commissioner, however, do not think the Bill will curb the commission’s powers as claimed by an opposition lawmaker.

Jatiya Party MP Fakhrul Imam tabled a motion of objection to the Bill, alleging the government was interfering with the EC’s work by curtailing its powers, but his motion was rejected in voice vote.

Speaker Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury then sent the Bill to the parliamentary standing committee on the law ministry for scrutiny.

Defending the Bill, Anisul said suspending voting in an entire electoral area for violence or irregularities in some centres was contradictory to the democratic process because the EC cannot suspend polls in the centres where people practised their voting rights properly.

Election Commissioner Rashida Sultana said the amendments would give the EC more powers.

She said the original RPO did not clearly mention steps to investigate and postpone elections until the results are gazetted. “Now the path has been opened to take into cognisance an aggrieved person’s complaint before the gazette is published.”

“Previously the EC did not have any such powers. Now it has achieved some powers to investigate and postpone elections in the time between the announcement of unofficial results and the publication of the gazette.”

The Kazi Habibul Awak-led Election Commission suspended the entire Gaibandha-5 parliamentary by-election, amid widespread accounts of irregularities, four hours after it opened on Oct 12, 2022.

The “situation was out of control” during the voting, Chief Election Commissioner Awal said, as live footage showed intruders forcing or influencing voters inside the booths. The Election Commission decided to act against more than 100 officials following an investigation.

Mahmud Hasan Ripon, the ruling Awami League candidate, won the fresh by-election held in January 2023.