Ahammad Foyez
Returning officers are confused about how to deal with the ministers and lawmakers during the 11th parliamentary elections as the 10th parliament will exist and ministers will continue to hold the office. They made several queries about their confusion in presence of the chief election commissioner KM Nurul Huda and other election commissioners in the opening session of a two-day training programme for them the Election Commission headquarters in Dhaka on Tuesday, commission officials told New Age.
They said that the election commissioners assured the returning officers that all the legal and technical issues would be explained in the training programme.
On November 9, the commission appointed deputy commissioners of all the 64 districts and two divisional commissioners as returning officers to conduct the 11th national election rescheduled for December 30. The officials said that a returning officer asked what they would do when an incumbent lawmaker would participate in any official programme in the respective constituency and seek vote.
Another returning officer asked how they would deal the ministers participating in electioneering in their constituencies or in favour of other candidates nominated by the ruling party, the officials said. They said that another returning officer asked what they would do if people serving the government or ministers on contract, including state attorneys, prosecutors, government pleaders and personal staff of the prime minister and ministers, submitted nomination papers as many of such people already collected forms for nominations of the ruling party.
The returning officers also sought clear instructions from the commission on indoor meetings of the political parties and their relations with other offices to enforce the Electoral Code of Conduct and electoral laws, the officials said.
The commission officials and campaigners for good governance said that the returning officers were confused as the national election was going to be held with the parliament in place for the first time in the country.
They said that the returning officers had hardly any experience of conducting elections contested by ministers holding the office, as the national elections in 1991, 1996, 2001 and 2008 were held under non-party governments.
Although the 10th parliamentary elections were held under the government of the ruling Awami League on January 5, 2014 with ministers contesting the polls, the issues were not raised as all the opposition parties boycotted the polls, they said. The returning officers expressed hope that the 11th parliamentary elections would be inclusive as the Bangladesh Nationalist Party and the Jatiya Oikya Front announced that they would join the polls.
Shushashoner Jonno Nagorik secretary Badiul Alam Majumder told New Age that there was a lot of scope for confusions as the election was going to be held with a parliament in existence.
He said that the commission’s field-level officials as well as the returning officers never experienced such a situation that was been created by the Awami League government.
He said that in most cases the lawmakers controlled the local administration, political leaderships and socio-cultural organisations although the constitution empowered them to make orders, rules, regulations, bye laws or other instruments having legislative effect.
Local government expert Tofail Ahmed said that it quite natural that the returning officers would be confused about their role as they were used to follow a set protocol in dealing with lawmakers and ministers. Even no authority has so far shown courage to remove posters and other campaigning materials of the existing lawmakers, he added.
- Courtesy: New Age /Nov 14, 2018
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