AL sits with EC to discuss electoral reforms today
Sunday, 4 November 2007
Equipped with their own set of proposals, including EC's judicial power and procedure of appointing Election Commissioners, Bangladesh Awami League sits with the Election Commission today (Sunday) to discuss the EC-designed electoral reforms, reports UNB.
A 10-member AL delegation led by its acting president Zillur Rahman is going to sit with the EC for the dialogue, arranged in preparation for the future elections. The delegation now consists of only the party's presidium members.
The agenda placed on the EC focus on the People Order 1972, the Political Party Registration 2001 and transparent ballot boxes for voting.
However, party sources said one of the major proposals in the draft prepared by AL says that the EC should have the judicial powers to punish anybody who violates electoral laws, and the power to suspend or cancel an election following such transgressions. The former ruling party also proposes that the chief election commissioner and other election commissioners should be appointed in consultation with major political parties.
"The Election Commission must have financial independence with direct allocation for it in the national budget, and it should have an independent secretariat and the finance ministry should have no control on the budget of the EC," says the AL proposal.
However, sources said there is nothing written in the draft AL proposals about the growing political demand for banning religion-based politics and debarring the war criminals as well as anti-liberation elements from contesting elections.
The EC should also have the unencumbered authority to formulate electoral rules and to announce electoral schedules, the party demands.
Opposing the EC's proposal for replacing the Representation of People Order (RPO) 1972 with a new order, AL in its proposal, however, says some necessary amendments should be brought to the existing RPOs 1972 and 1982, without replacing them completely.
About voter registration, the proposal says that registration of homeless people and non-resident Bangladeshis should be ensured.
The AL proposes that the stranded Pakistanis and Rohingya refugees living in refugee shelters in the country should not be given citisenship.
The party, for the last several days, has held a series of meetings to prepare the draft set of proposals based on the AL-led 14-Party combine's 31-point electoral reform proposals publicised in July 2005.
Its proposal also suggests that voter lists should be published in all constituencies at least 10 days before the announcement of an election schedule.
A 10-member AL delegation led by its acting president Zillur Rahman is going to sit with the EC for the dialogue, arranged in preparation for the future elections. The delegation now consists of only the party's presidium members.
The agenda placed on the EC focus on the People Order 1972, the Political Party Registration 2001 and transparent ballot boxes for voting.
However, party sources said one of the major proposals in the draft prepared by AL says that the EC should have the judicial powers to punish anybody who violates electoral laws, and the power to suspend or cancel an election following such transgressions. The former ruling party also proposes that the chief election commissioner and other election commissioners should be appointed in consultation with major political parties.
"The Election Commission must have financial independence with direct allocation for it in the national budget, and it should have an independent secretariat and the finance ministry should have no control on the budget of the EC," says the AL proposal.
However, sources said there is nothing written in the draft AL proposals about the growing political demand for banning religion-based politics and debarring the war criminals as well as anti-liberation elements from contesting elections.
The EC should also have the unencumbered authority to formulate electoral rules and to announce electoral schedules, the party demands.
Opposing the EC's proposal for replacing the Representation of People Order (RPO) 1972 with a new order, AL in its proposal, however, says some necessary amendments should be brought to the existing RPOs 1972 and 1982, without replacing them completely.
About voter registration, the proposal says that registration of homeless people and non-resident Bangladeshis should be ensured.
The AL proposes that the stranded Pakistanis and Rohingya refugees living in refugee shelters in the country should not be given citisenship.
The party, for the last several days, has held a series of meetings to prepare the draft set of proposals based on the AL-led 14-Party combine's 31-point electoral reform proposals publicised in July 2005.
Its proposal also suggests that voter lists should be published in all constituencies at least 10 days before the announcement of an election schedule.