Prothom Alo carried an article on 17
September by Sohrab Hossain, asking ‘Who will conduct the elections?’
This was quite a timely piece and it is prime time to discuss the issue.
Hopefully the new election commission will be formed within less than four months, though there is no constitutional obligation to do so. There is no reason to believe that there will be any change in the process followed by the political governments in forming the election commission. The law minister has already said that the election commission will be appointed in the same manner as it has been in the past.
The election commission is formed in different ways in different countries. In some countries it hardly has a role to play in conducting the election. And in many democratic countries, it has control over the government during the election period. India is an example.
The election commission in India is firmly rooted and has strong support from the judiciary, the media, civil society and, above all, the political parties. They are all stakeholders. Very few election commissions in India have faced criticism.
During the last Lok Sabha election in India, the new Indian army chief was supposed to be elected, but even that was postponed at the behest of the commission.
Article 119 of our constitution also provides such powers to the election commission, but our commission cannot fully exercise these powers. They are not backed up by those supposed to back them. The judiciary must come forward to support the commission. When we were in the election commission, the media played a powerful role. We did not, however, receive as much support from the judiciary as desired.
I don’t know if the court can take any action automatically if the constitution is violated. In such cases, Indian civil society organisations approach the court through the PLI. In our country a few organisations did go to the court, but it is doubtful if they will be able to do so in the future.
Our experience with elections is not negligible. Our election commissions have dealt will all the types of elections as enumerated in political science. In our country, during one term an election commission gains experience of about 6000 election units, including the union parishad election and so on. India does not have this experience as the election commission there only conducts the Rajya Sabha election. The local elections are conducted by the respective state election commissions.
Despite our experience, there is a lack of continuity in our election work procedures. Actually the fault lies in the formation of the election commission. The commissions formed by the political governments simply look towards the government. So it then depends on the government, not the election commission, as to whether the election will be free, fair and credible.
The election commissions under the caretaker governments managed to conduct free, fair and credible elections, but after that the commissions failed to follow suit. The successive governments were non-cooperative and the election commissions were compromised.
The time span between 2007 and 2012 was significant in the history of the election commission. The elections conducted in this period were hardly debated and the election commission performed quite independently despite several bottlenecks and also managed to bring about several changes. Unfortunately, the subsequent commissions failed to carry on this trend or to effectively apply these changes.
There is a lack of public confidence in the present election system. It will be the first and foremost task of the next election commission to restore this confidence.
The first step will be the process of forming the election commission. Though there is similarity between the Indian constitution and ours, it must be kept in mind that the foundations of their democratic institutions, of which political parties are most important, are very strong. India’s federal structure is also conducive to democracy.
The fact of the matter remains that the election commission in Bangladesh cannot apply the authority vested upon it. The complementary bodies also fail to give it the required backing. Political parties, civil society, the government, the parliament, media, the judiciary and others are all important stakeholders in the election process and election management for a free, fair and credible election.
In rising democracies like Bangladesh, the lack of election integrity and acceptability on an international level is a problem for the administration. The United Nation’s 1948 Universal Declaration on Human Rights upholds an individual’s right to vote, and places importance on election integrity, credibility, international standards and settlement of election disputes.
The Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA) in its research paper Deepening Democracy, and Professor Pippa Norris in her work, point out that if the election process is not credible and the application of law is absent, then the public becomes frustrated and loses confidence in the election process as well as in those who conduct the election.
Such elections are a serious violation of human rights. The governments which emerge from such elections, thus tend to be authoritarian and alienated from the people. The country’s entire election system is harmed. The price is paid in terms of law and order and human rights violations. This has been seen in post-election situations in Kenya, Nigeria and several East European countries.
If an election commission is biased or is ineffective, then the very foundations of democracy will be weak and authoritarianism will spring up. In our country, whether or not there will be a repeat of the 2014 elections and other subsequent polls, all depends on who will run the election commission and how they will perform their duty.
M Sakhawat Hossain: Retired Brigadier General, former election commissioner and columnist
hhintlbd@yahoo.com
Hopefully the new election commission will be formed within less than four months, though there is no constitutional obligation to do so. There is no reason to believe that there will be any change in the process followed by the political governments in forming the election commission. The law minister has already said that the election commission will be appointed in the same manner as it has been in the past.
The election commission is formed in different ways in different countries. In some countries it hardly has a role to play in conducting the election. And in many democratic countries, it has control over the government during the election period. India is an example.
The election commission in India is firmly rooted and has strong support from the judiciary, the media, civil society and, above all, the political parties. They are all stakeholders. Very few election commissions in India have faced criticism.
During the last Lok Sabha election in India, the new Indian army chief was supposed to be elected, but even that was postponed at the behest of the commission.
Article 119 of our constitution also provides such powers to the election commission, but our commission cannot fully exercise these powers. They are not backed up by those supposed to back them. The judiciary must come forward to support the commission. When we were in the election commission, the media played a powerful role. We did not, however, receive as much support from the judiciary as desired.
I don’t know if the court can take any action automatically if the constitution is violated. In such cases, Indian civil society organisations approach the court through the PLI. In our country a few organisations did go to the court, but it is doubtful if they will be able to do so in the future.
Our experience with elections is not negligible. Our election commissions have dealt will all the types of elections as enumerated in political science. In our country, during one term an election commission gains experience of about 6000 election units, including the union parishad election and so on. India does not have this experience as the election commission there only conducts the Rajya Sabha election. The local elections are conducted by the respective state election commissions.
Despite our experience, there is a lack of continuity in our election work procedures. Actually the fault lies in the formation of the election commission. The commissions formed by the political governments simply look towards the government. So it then depends on the government, not the election commission, as to whether the election will be free, fair and credible.
The election commissions under the caretaker governments managed to conduct free, fair and credible elections, but after that the commissions failed to follow suit. The successive governments were non-cooperative and the election commissions were compromised.
The time span between 2007 and 2012 was significant in the history of the election commission. The elections conducted in this period were hardly debated and the election commission performed quite independently despite several bottlenecks and also managed to bring about several changes. Unfortunately, the subsequent commissions failed to carry on this trend or to effectively apply these changes.
There is a lack of public confidence in the present election system. It will be the first and foremost task of the next election commission to restore this confidence.
The first step will be the process of forming the election commission. Though there is similarity between the Indian constitution and ours, it must be kept in mind that the foundations of their democratic institutions, of which political parties are most important, are very strong. India’s federal structure is also conducive to democracy.
The fact of the matter remains that the election commission in Bangladesh cannot apply the authority vested upon it. The complementary bodies also fail to give it the required backing. Political parties, civil society, the government, the parliament, media, the judiciary and others are all important stakeholders in the election process and election management for a free, fair and credible election.
In rising democracies like Bangladesh, the lack of election integrity and acceptability on an international level is a problem for the administration. The United Nation’s 1948 Universal Declaration on Human Rights upholds an individual’s right to vote, and places importance on election integrity, credibility, international standards and settlement of election disputes.
The Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA) in its research paper Deepening Democracy, and Professor Pippa Norris in her work, point out that if the election process is not credible and the application of law is absent, then the public becomes frustrated and loses confidence in the election process as well as in those who conduct the election.
Such elections are a serious violation of human rights. The governments which emerge from such elections, thus tend to be authoritarian and alienated from the people. The country’s entire election system is harmed. The price is paid in terms of law and order and human rights violations. This has been seen in post-election situations in Kenya, Nigeria and several East European countries.
If an election commission is biased or is ineffective, then the very foundations of democracy will be weak and authoritarianism will spring up. In our country, whether or not there will be a repeat of the 2014 elections and other subsequent polls, all depends on who will run the election commission and how they will perform their duty.
M Sakhawat Hossain: Retired Brigadier General, former election commissioner and columnist
hhintlbd@yahoo.com
