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Filing Audit Reports

EC delays action as parties miss deadline

Shakhawat Liton
The Election Commission (EC) has finally decided to exempt 39 political parties from submitting to it within the timeframe, audit reports on their financial transactions in the immediate past year, without amending the legal provision in this regard.
It took the decision on Monday in response to a letter from BNP expressing its inability due to some complexities to comply with the mandatory provision for submission of audit report within the deadline — July 31 last.
Apart from BNP other registered parties including Awami League, Jatiya Party and Jamaat-e- Islami did not abide by the provision, officials at the EC Secretariat said. "We did not ask any party to submit the audit report, and no party has done so within the deadline," one official said.
The EC however decided sto strictly enforce the relevant rules from next year. So, each of the registered political parties will have to submit audit report on their financial transactions this yearbyjuly31 next year, EC officials said.
Monday's decision of the EC will be communicated to BNP and it might also be communicated to other parties.
According to Section 9 (b) of the political' party registration rules, each of the registered political parties has to get its financial transaction in the immediate past calendar year audited by a registered chartered accounting firm, and submit the audit report to the EC by July 31.
Before the ninth parliamentary election, registration of political parties was made mandatory for contesting the polls. This was intended to bring transparency in political parties' funding and expenditure of their funds.
The political parties got registered with the EC in October- November last year, qualifying to contest the December 29 parliamentary election.
According to rules, all these parties were supposed to submit audit reports on their financial transaction, particularly for the last few months of the last financial year after they got registered, EC offi-cialssaid.
In defence of EC decision on Monday, some other EC officials however said the political parties did not have to submit audit reports by July 31 as one year was yet to be completed since their registration.
In the absence of clear interpretation of the rules and directives concerning audit reports, the EC Secretariat did not remind the parties about complying with those in time, officials said.
BNP's letter to the EC on August 2, signed by its Secretary General Khandaker Delwar Hossain, said the party got registered on November 3 last year, and one year was yet to be completed since its registration.
Besides, during the state of emergency, the central office of BNP was locked for long, and many documents were missing, it mentioned.
So, it was not possible for BNP to get its financial transaction audited, and to submit the audit report to the EC within the stipulated timeframe, the letter said.