Allow EC to prepare its budget, recruit staff, run secretariat

With frequent political pressure holding back the Election Commission (EC) from functioning properly, a CPD Task Force on 'Governance' recommended ensuring more independence for the Commission by tailoring a separate budget for it and allowing it to recruit staff and run its own secretariat.

The Task Force also observed that under the existing law, the Election Commission has no authority to nullify or withhold results declared by the returning officer even if it is convinced that the result has been manipulated.

"It is, therefore, recommended that the power to declare results should vest in the Election Commission instead of the Returning Officer. This would mean that the Returning Officer will file the returns but will not be authorised to officially declare the winner."

Following are the recommendations of the CPD Task Force:

In order for the Election Commission, which is responsible for conducting elections in the country, to nurture the integrity of the electoral process, it must not only be independent of government control, but also be perceived to be so by the general public and the political parties.

While the legal framework is a necessity and should be firmly in place at times, the persons appointed to it must be respected for their impartiality and competence.

Although the Constitution dictates that the Election Commission "shall be independent in the exercise of its functions subject only to (this) Constitution and any other law," concerns are expressed time and again that political pressures continue to erode the integrity of election officials.

Composition of the Election Commission

The Constitution should be amended to eliminate the rather loose formulation for the composition of the Election Commission that currently exists, in favour of a process that serves to reduce the occasions for political controversy that comes with the appointments of its membership. Consideration should be given to the following proposals:

•The number of members of the Election Commission should be fixed rather than be at the discretion of the President.

•The terms of Members of the Election Commission, other than the Chairman, should be rotated so that half of the members' terms expire at the same time the terms of members of the Parliament expire, or at the time Parliament is otherwise dissolved. (This would mean that only half the members would be appointed during the term of any sitting government and could ultimately result in a balance in the membership over the course of time. In the event of resignation of a Member, the replacement Member should only serve for the balance of the former Member's remaining term.)

•The term of the Chairman of the Election Commission should expire at the same time as the terms of the Members of Parliament expire. The new Chairman should be appointed at the time the caretaker government takes office.

•Restrictions as to other Members of the Election Commission should also be adopted including a prohibition against the appointment of any person who is a member of a political party or affiliated with any political party.

Consultative Membership to Election Commission

To encourage a policy of inclusiveness and promote transparency, the rules of procedures could include provisions that allow the presence of consultative delegates representing the political parties at all formal sessions of the Election Commission.

The Task Force is aware that at present the Election Commission does maintain some sort of contact and engages in dialogue with the political parties, but generally on a one to one basis. The greatest danger to the present practice is that it leaves the door open to speculation as to what "agreements" my be made, and what biases might be interjected into the decisions and actions of the Commissions. By providing access to consultative members (delegates) as a part of a formal policy, the Commission can more adequately insulate itself from such allegations and can increase confidence of the political contestants.

In order to ensure active participation of the consultative delegates at the formal session, they must be properly notified the schedule of the session. In addition, they must have the right and privilege to:

Receive the agenda and relevant documents

Request and receive additional relevant documents

Address the Commission, ask questions and offer suggestions

Request consideration of issues of concern

Have any dissenting opinion noted in the records

The Task Force does not see any need for legislative changes to adopt this measure.

Increasing Credibility of the Subordinate Structure of the EC

The role of Deputy Commissioners as Returning Officers (RO) and Thana Nirbahi Officers as Assistant Returning Officers (ARO) in the conduct of the poll has been controversial. Under the election law, the officials responsible for performing nearly all important election functions at the constituency level is the Returning Officer (RO) and at the upazilla level is ARO. The recommendation of the Task Force is that Election Commission should consider appointment of RO and ARO from it permanent staffs and from Judiciary at least for the next two elections.