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How credible is the Election Commission?

Farid Hossain
CREDIBILITY is a key element in any election. It's even more important in a national election in a country like Bangladesh where political parties are known for harbouring deep mutual mistrust.
Hope for a negotiated end to the deadlock is fading fast as the country is inching toward holding the balloting to elect the 10,h parliament with the five-year term of the current legislature expiring on January 24,2014.
With this uncertainty in the background the Election Commission is getting prepared to conduct the voting, which is already proving to be a high-voltage event.
The commission has recently published on its website the draft of the amended electoral code of conduct that bars the prime minister, the leader of the opposition, ministers and members of parliament from using any sort of government facilities during the election campaign.
As we go through the details of the proposed code of conduct we find little to complain about except that this time, unlike the previous elections held under the nonpartisan caretaker government, is likely to be held under a partisan government. The incumbent government will be in charge in the form of an interim administration until the election is held and power is handed to a government that will be chosen by the voters.
This reality has raised questions about how the EC is going to ensure a real level-playing field for all the candidates. The electoral code of conduct might look attractive on its face, but it will be of no use if the EC fails to execute it properly. What happens if the WIPS like the PM and Leader of the opposition do not completely adhere to the code of conduct? Will the EC be able to penalize such WIPS should they violate the rules.
Another big source of worry is the Representation of the People Order (RPO) that has recently been amended by the parliament. As we all know that RPO is the legal framework applied to hold the election. It deals with many issues ranging from campaign financing to law enforcement to penalties to candidates. RPO also contains provisions on the circumstances to cancel the nomination of a candidate or making valid a cancelled nomination.
The amended RPO has dropped a significant provision that a person must spend at least three years as a member of a political party to qualify to contest in the national election. This provision was incorporated by the military-backed caretaker government that had overseen the 2008 parliamentary election. It was supposed to be fully effective from the upcoming parliamentary polls.
The provision had sought to protect the career politicians from the outsiders who, by dint of their wealth, could easily buy their nominations paying a huge amount of money to the party concerned. Titis practice also leads to trading in party nominations by those who see politics as a profit-making venture rather than an opportunity to serve the people and the nation. The money spent by Mr. X becomes an investment and this person, if elected, uses the public office for accumulating wealth rather than devoting himself to public service. We are talking about business and profit because our experience has shown that most of such new entrants have been businessmen. Others have been retired civil and military officials.
These birds of fair weather have changed the make-up of our parliament where the representation of professional career politicians has been going down. In some cases politicians deprived of party nominations tend to leave the party to get nomination from another party. Politicians who are rich can still compete with the wealthy non-politician new comers. But it's really so frustrating for those who are devoted to the party, but too poor to join the election fray, which is now a very expensive affair. Loyalty, honesty and devotion to the party and its ideology alone do not make someone eligible to nomination. Money is now considered the Number one credential.
The unconditional entry of the new but wealthy individuals to a party to get nomination also can lead to corruption and violation campaign financing rules.
The Election Commission has been a silent spectator to this controversial change in the RPO brought about by the parliament on Oct. 28 on the advice of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on the Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs.
To its critics this has dented whatever credibility the EC has in conducting the next election.
The EC has still time to act to try to change the perception. It's not going the right way and not doing the right thing.
The writer is former Bangladesh Bureau Chief, AP