Political parties to benefit from registration: EC
Sunday, 31 August 2008
The Election Commission (EC) believes that the political parties would be benefited from their registration with the commission as this process would bring discipline in the parties and help them run democratically, reports BSS.
Election Commissioner Brig Gen (retd) M Sakhawat Hossain told the news agency that the electoral laws were amended recently to bring about a change to the old political culture.
He said the culture of election boycott without any logic should be stopped. Otherwise, there would be indiscipline always in the political arena.
The Representation of People Order (Amendment) Ordinance (RPO) 2008 was published in a gazette on August 19 making registration of political parties with the EC mandatory to take part in elections.
On Tuesday, the Political Party (Registration) Rules 2008 were published in a gazette, keeping the provision that registration of a party would be nullified if it did not take part in two parliamentary polls consecutively.
This would stop culture of the election boycott among the political parties and initiate a healthy democratic trend in the country, Sakhawat Hossain said.
Though the big parties usually take part in polls, there are many small parties which never participate in elections. Rather, they try to influence the polls in different ways, he said and added the new rules would bring them under discipline.
The election commissioner said the parties should be registered with the EC for their own interest. None wanted to go back to the old political culture, he said and added if the political parties felt that there were any problem regarding the registration, they could discuss it with the EC during the third round dialogue.
As per the RPO, none will be eligible to contest the polls without the nomination of a registered political party. An independent candidate, however, can contest polls by submitting signatures of one per cent voters of the concerned constituency in his/her favour.
According to the registration rules, a party will have to deposit nonrefundable Tk 5,000 through treasury chalan in favour of the EC secretary along with the application for registration. Besides, the party's constitution, election manifesto (if any), party rules, pictures of party logo and flag, and designations and names of all in the executive committee or the committee of similar status will have to be submitted.
Party's bank account number, latest bank balance, sources of fund and documents showing the proof of winning at least one seat in any of parliamentary polls after the country's independence would also be required, among other information, to apply for registration with the EC.
The concerned party will also need to have an active central office along with a central committee and at least 10 district committees with active district offices in 10 districts.
The parties will also require to set the target of reserving 33 per cent of party posts for women in all tiers, including the central committee by 2020, and their registration would be cancelled, if they violate the rule prohibiting front organisations comprising teachers and students of educational institutions, members of different professions, and workers of financial, trade and industrial institutions.
Election Commissioner Brig Gen (retd) M Sakhawat Hossain told the news agency that the electoral laws were amended recently to bring about a change to the old political culture.
He said the culture of election boycott without any logic should be stopped. Otherwise, there would be indiscipline always in the political arena.
The Representation of People Order (Amendment) Ordinance (RPO) 2008 was published in a gazette on August 19 making registration of political parties with the EC mandatory to take part in elections.
On Tuesday, the Political Party (Registration) Rules 2008 were published in a gazette, keeping the provision that registration of a party would be nullified if it did not take part in two parliamentary polls consecutively.
This would stop culture of the election boycott among the political parties and initiate a healthy democratic trend in the country, Sakhawat Hossain said.
Though the big parties usually take part in polls, there are many small parties which never participate in elections. Rather, they try to influence the polls in different ways, he said and added the new rules would bring them under discipline.
The election commissioner said the parties should be registered with the EC for their own interest. None wanted to go back to the old political culture, he said and added if the political parties felt that there were any problem regarding the registration, they could discuss it with the EC during the third round dialogue.
As per the RPO, none will be eligible to contest the polls without the nomination of a registered political party. An independent candidate, however, can contest polls by submitting signatures of one per cent voters of the concerned constituency in his/her favour.
According to the registration rules, a party will have to deposit nonrefundable Tk 5,000 through treasury chalan in favour of the EC secretary along with the application for registration. Besides, the party's constitution, election manifesto (if any), party rules, pictures of party logo and flag, and designations and names of all in the executive committee or the committee of similar status will have to be submitted.
Party's bank account number, latest bank balance, sources of fund and documents showing the proof of winning at least one seat in any of parliamentary polls after the country's independence would also be required, among other information, to apply for registration with the EC.
The concerned party will also need to have an active central office along with a central committee and at least 10 district committees with active district offices in 10 districts.
The parties will also require to set the target of reserving 33 per cent of party posts for women in all tiers, including the central committee by 2020, and their registration would be cancelled, if they violate the rule prohibiting front organisations comprising teachers and students of educational institutions, members of different professions, and workers of financial, trade and industrial institutions.