We have to say frankly that despite being aware of the hypocritically selfish nature to be found mostly among our educated people it is unbelievable that the Election Commission openly expresses their ignorance of the responsibility to create proper environment for free election.
The new Chief Election Commissioner, Kazi Habibul Awal, is also not ready to understand that participation or not, his first and foremost duty is to be sure about the right environment for free and fair elections. He has to explain how where others failed he will succeed?
Apart from parliamentary practice elsewhere, he should have known from our own experience that without dissolving the parliament and under a party government no free election is possible. It is not the Election Commission’s responsibility to worry about who will take part in the election and who will not.
The Election Commission’s constitutional responsibility is to ensure independently genuine environment for honest and free election. It cannot rely on the generosity of the government for providing proper environment for free elections. The last two general elections show how easily participation of the parties can be bought and the people can be denied vote by a party government in power.
The Election Commission is not a statutory body formed under a subordinate legislation so it is not helpless against wilful interference by the government. It is the constitutional obligation of the government officials to offer all assistance to the Election Commission during the election. The Election Commission is virtually the government during election time so far as it relates to creating atmosphere for free election without obstruction from the government of the day.
The government is a constitutional body so is the Election Commission. It is the absolute constitutional mandate for the Election Commission to preserve independently the sanctity of the election to be free and fair.
If the Election Commission is made dysfunctional by the government for stealing the election it must say so and withdraw from conducting or confirming the election results. But it has not been happening. Contrarily, the Commission legalised election rigging more than once to make it a habit for the sitting government to continue in power through stolen elections.
The members of the Election Commission are undoubtedly among our highly educated ones and if they can so blatantly act unconscionably to betray public trust then the image it conveys is we are unfit to be a free people.
The government is so sure that the educated people among us who have no patriotism or charter can be bought to act against the interest of the people. Though not elected, it has no difficulty in using many other educated ones not only to facilitate it to continue in power as the government but also to be oppressive on the people’s will.
A judgement of the Supreme Court based on misconception of parliamentary system was manipulated to change the Constitution in a haste so the government can continue in power and win people’s elections without people’s vote. The system of non-party caretaker government during the election was abolished to make the Election Commission non-functional and easy to buy participation.
The machinery of election so arranged the sitting government and not the Election Commission shall be in complete control of the election. The Election Commission saw it occurring but found it safe to be a rubber stamp. The election robbery has become easy politics of the government. Even then foreign help was obvious.
Naturally counter democratic help is essential for the people to get out of the cycle of rigged elections and pervasive corruption. In the result, the country is for the benefit of the few corrupt ones. The fat illegal beneficiaries are desperate to maintain status quo.
When the former Chief Election Commissioners say that proper atmosphere for free election has to be created by the government or political parties what they are saying is that they were incompetent to be in charge of the free election and still they continued only to keep their positions and enjoy the perks.
The present Chief Election Commissioner also does not own his responsibility to create the right atmosphere for the coming election. He only says without participation of all parties the election will not be proper. A free election does not depend on who takes part and who does not.
Whatever the government did by manipulating the Constitution to remain in power at the election time, the Election Commission cannot disoblige the Constitution and deny its own independence to say that to hold the election under a party government is against parliamentary system and proved unworkable in our country.
The Commission should remind the government that the parliamentary practice is to have an unelected caretaker government during the election time. In Great Britain during the election time no elected government can exist after the dissolution of the parliament. This much should be known and understood that election time prime minister there is the prime minister so chosen by the queen and the opposition also accept him as not being an election thief.
There is no need to wait till it is too late. The government must agree now to dissolve the parliament and step down in favour of a non-party election time caretaker government. That will give the present government convincing proof of its huge popularity.
