EC is all powerful during national election, but it is on paper only

Unlike any democratic country, the Election Commission in Bangladesh is not so independent and powerful, though it is a constitutional body.

Our Constitution has awarded the EC with absolute power to control and direct the civil administration during national elections.

But this is rendered meaningless as bureaucrats and members of police and other law enforcement agencies do not cooperate with the Commission, but end up doing the opposite.

The Chief Election Commissioner, Kazi Habibul Awal, according to a report published in this newspaper yesterday, agreed that government assistance is needed to make the upcoming parliamentary election, supposed to be held in the first week of January 2024, free and fair as what he said they have to depend on government’s support.

Can the EC do anything if the bureaucrats and law enforcement authorities feel that these are just words written on a piece of paper? It cannot.

So, the question arises can the EC hold a free and fair national election? Under the prevailing conditions, it is nearly impossible.

Why? With nearly three months left before the upcoming parliamentary election, the focus has been on ensuring a transparent and impartial electoral process.

And at the core of it lies the issue of a caretaker government.

Opposition forces are adamant on having a non-partisan government, saying it is imperative for holding a free and fair election.

It is the Awami League government that abolished the provision of caretaker government from the Constitution in 2011 following a “short verdict” of the Supreme Court — it did not wait for the long written verdict, which included a suggestion that the caretaker government system may be continued for two more terms.

Since then the authenticity of elections started to be seriously questioned by the public.

Meanwhile, the issue of Bangladesh’s elections has been echoing beyond its borders. The US unveiled a raft of measures it said were aimed at supporting the country’s goal of conducting free and fair elections.

It has already imposed sanctions on RAB. Under this policy, the United States will be able to restrict the issuance of visas for any Bangladeshi individual, believed to be responsible for, or complicit in, undermining the democratic election process in Bangladesh.

A seven-member US pre-election observer team arrived in Dhaka on Saturday for assessing the environment prior to the parliamentary election.

Following the conclusion of its visit, the team will provide its key findings and practical recommendations ahead of the elections on October 13.

This is not the first mission for pre-election assessment; a similar team from the European Union also visited Bangladesh on July 8-23.

But after their assessment report, the EU declined to send their observers stating that they found concerns from the field report over sending observers during the election.

Unfortunately much of our country’s recent economic slump is due to public funds being used to benefit mid- and high-ranking bureaucrats.

It has worked well in terms of winning their loyalty and confidence for the ruling party, with overall negative consequences for the people and the economy.