Election Commission may reject new parties’ appeals for registration

Election Commission officials say none of the over six dozen prospective parties applying for registration are likely to receive approvals ahead of the the coming eleventh parliamentary elections.

Senior Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 3 June 2018, 07:32 AM
Updated : 3 June 2018, 07:42 AM

“It seems that the conditions for registering new parties have been difficult to meet,” said EC Secretary Helaluddin Ahmed.

“Some of the parties have only one leader, others do not have an office, some do not have a party constitution.”

A total of 38 political parties registered in 2008, when the system was implemented. Two more were added before the ninth parliamentary elections and two others before the tenth parliamentary elections. The registration of two parties was dismissed after they failed to fulfil the necessary criteria. This puts the total number of political parties that can field candidates under a party banner in Bangladesh at 40.

A total of 76 prospective parties applied to register ahead of the coming eleventh parliamentary elections. Nineteen of them were rejected in the initial selection. Eight others were rejected after they failed to submit the necessary documents to the EC.

The commission then scrutinised the remaining 49 prospective parties throughout May. Four deputy committees were formed to scrutinise the structure, documents and additional information regarding the prospective parties.

“Most of the parties did not have the correct documents,” an EC deputy secretary told bdnews24.com. “I could not recommend any of the parties that I examined for registration.”

“Our work is done,” EC Deputy Secretary Abdul Halim Khan, who is in charge of the registration work, told bdnews24.com. “The relevant parties will be informed once we receive the approval of the commission.”

The EC had previously announced plans to finalise the list of registered parties six months before the coming general elections. To meet that goal, it has to announce the list this week. If any party is added to the list, the EC has to issue a gazette to settle all objections.

If there are any disagreements between the chief election commissioner and the other commissioners, the decision will be taken based on a majority vote.

The EC Secretariat’s registration selection committee is drafting a letter to send to the rejected parties. The letter states that the party’s registration has been rejected because it has been unable to meet the criteria outlined in the public representation order.

The eleventh parliamentary elections must be held between Oct 30 of this year and Jan 28 of next year. Preparations for the polls will begin in earnest following the three citywide polls to be held on Jul 30.