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important government, semi-government or private position -- will be eligible to be an election commissioner.

FORMATION OF SEARCH COMMITTEE

In the draft of the law, Shujon said the president shall form a search committee consisting of seven members, including a minimum of one woman, in order to fill the vacancy of election commissioner.

The seven members will consist of a retired judge, who shall be the convener of the committee; a member of parliament nominated by the Leader of Parliament; a lawmaker nominated by the Leader of the Opposition; a member of parliament nominated by the third largest political party in terms of number of seats in parliament; the Auditor General and the Comptroller and Auditor General of Bangladesh; a representative of civil society, who shall be elected on the basis of a majority decision by the first five members, in case of unanimity or non-consensus; and a representative of the media, who shall be nominated on the basis of a majority decision of the majority of the first five members, in case of unanimity or non-consensus.

FUNCTIONS OF THE COMMITTEE

The committee shall inquire into people for appointment in the EC and publish a preliminary list of at least 15 persons, including a minimum of 5 women, and a maximum of 20 persons.

Each member of the recommended panel shall submit an account of their assets in a prescribed table, which shall be published by the search committee in the form of a public notice.

The committee shall hold public hearings on the preliminary list, interviewing the selected. After this, the committee shall unanimously prepare a panel of seven persons including a minimum of two women, and also publish a public notice clarifying why the selected were preferred.

The search committee will then send the panel to the president for appointment and the president shall appoint one of them to the post of CEC and not more than four to the post of Election Commissioner.

Addressing the programme, Shujon secretary Badiul Alam Majumder said it’s unfortunate that there is still no specific law in the country to appoint the CEC and election commissioners, although there is a provision for enacting the law under Article 118 (1) of the Constitution. He said formation of the EC will not be acceptable to the civil society if it not formed through enactment of the law concerned.

Noted jurist Shahdeen Malik said the last two ECs had utterly failed to perform their functions properly, saying the government is tricking the people when it comes to forming a search committee to appoint CEC and ECs.

He also said the president has no power to form a search committee as he has to consult with the prime minister regarding all matters except the appointment of the prime minister and the chief justice.

As the five-year tenure of the current Election Commission will expire next February, the government is saying there is not enough time to enact a law in line with the Constitution to appoint ECs.

But Shahdeen Malik said if the government and parliament desire, the law can be passed within a short time.

“The law can even be enacted through promulgating an ordinance by the president,” he also said.

Former election commissioner M Sakhawat Hussain said during their tenure, they had handed over a draft law to the law ministry. But no progress has been made to enact a law to form the election commission so far.