Jatiya Party proposes names for search committee to appoint election commissioners

The opposition in parliament also proposed “four to five” names for the search committee in talks with President Md Abdul Hamid at the Bangabhaban on the formation of a new EC on Monday.

“We think competent and neutral people are required to form the search committee. So, we’ve given a list of four to five people to him (Hamid). We won’t publish it now,” Jatiya Party Chairman GM Quader said after the dialogue.

The party submitted three proposals to the president, with the first one to pass a law to form the commission, or issue an ordinance if the law cannot be passed due to a lack of time.

If the law cannot be passed due to a lack of time or other reasons, the second proposal says, the commission can be formed through a search committee.  

The third proposal says the president will himself find competent and impartial people for appointment as election commissioners.

“He (president) has assured us of considering our proposals,” said Quader.

The Jatiya Party has been the first to join the talks. A delegation of eight, headed by Quader entered the Bangabhaban at 3:50 pm and the dialogue started after 4 pm.

Senior Co-Chairman Anisul Islam Mahmud, co-chairmen Ruhul Amin Howlader, Kazi Firoz Rashid, Salman Islam, Syed Abu Hossain Babla, Secretary General Mujibul Haque Chunnu and Presidium Member Moshiur Rahman Ranga also attended the talks.

The current Election Commission, led by Chief Election Commissioner KM Nurul Huda, will end its tenure on Feb 14, 2022. The president has opened talks with registered political parties to discuss their views on the formation of a new Election Commission.

In 2016, the Jatiya Party had submitted a five-point charter to the president.

After the dialogue with the Jatiya Party, the head of state will sit with the Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal, or JaSoD, on Wednesday. Another seven political parties will be invited on Dec 26, 27 and 29 for talks.

Hamid had similarly appointed the outgoing election commissioners through a search committee after holding talks with the parties nearly five years ago.

In the absence of a law to appoint election commissioners, the power to appoint an election commissioner is vested in the president, in line with the Constitution. Late president Zillur Rahman had formed the previous Election Commission by selecting a committee to shortlist names of possible candidates for the posts of the election commissioners and their chief.

Hamid had followed suit the next time to appoint CEC Huda and the commissioners from the names recommended by the search committee.

Currently, more than three dozen parties are registered on the EC. Hamid had held the talks with 31 parties throughout December, 2016, starting with the BNP, before forming the commission.

This time the talks may be kept brief and are expected to be completed soon due to the prevalence of the coronavirus pandemic, said an official at the Bangabhaban.

According to the official, the president will hold talks with one party a day initially, and then two parties daily to shorten the time period of the talks.

Following the dialogue, a search committee will be formed and the Cabinet Division will issue a notice on the matter. The members of the search committee propose the new commissioners and the president picks and appoints them.

The last two commissions consisted of five commissioners. Though all commissioners hold the same power, one chief election commissioner is elected to coordinate their work.

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Jatiya Party proposes names for search committee to appoint election commissioners