The panel tasked with scoping out potential members of the next Election Commission has been urged to select honest, competent and courageous people who espouse the spirit of the Liberation War.
There were also calls to diversify the pool of potential candidates for the commission by including women along with representatives of minority groups to encourage vulnerable voters during discussions between the search committee and eminent citizens on Saturday.
Two groups of 20 citizens, including teachers, lawyers, media personalities, election experts, businessmen and rights activists, were invited to take part in the separate meetings at the Supreme Court's Judges' Lounge.
They also stressed the need to filter out those with partisan ties in their search to ensure a fair and unbiased Election Commission, reports bdnews24.com.
The meetings were chaired by Justice Obaidul Hassan, chairman of the search committee. The other members of the six-strong panel are Justice SM Kuddus Zaman, Comptroller and Auditor General Mohammad Muslim Chowdhury, Bangladesh Public Service Commission Chairman Sohorab Hossain, former election commissioner Sohul Hussain and fiction writer Anwara Syed Haq.
Afterwards, former cabinet secretary Ali Imam Majumder said the discussions focussed on the process through which suitable candidates would be selected. "I made a special proposal. I emphasised that any person who benefitted or enjoyed privileges from the ruling party or any previous party government be left out of consideration.”
Prof Asif Nazrul of Dhaka University's Department of Law said the proposal was widely backed by the other participants. "We each had the opportunity to put our views across. Most of us have said that those who will be in charge of the Election Commission should not be the recipients of any special privileges during the tenure of previous governments.”
This would rule out any government appointments on a contractual basis or anyone who was rewarded for his loyalty with an extension of their tenure in any public office, according to him.
"Such people should not be a part of the Election Commission. Many have taken a stand for or against various political parties after their retirement but should also not be considered. Anyone in whom the government has a vested interest should be overlooked.”
The law teacher said he advised the search committee to ensure that the potential candidates have the right personality and mindset for the task of carrying out fair elections.
He also called for the committee to announce the names of those who are in the running for posts in the next Election Commission in advance.
"If the committee nominates 30 people, those who are then found to have spoken for or against a particular political party while participating in a talk show while in government service should be excluded."
Asif believes the country's electoral system is in a precarious state and highlighted the importance of appointing the right people to the Election Commission in order restore to voter confidence.
"Those who will be nominated by the search committee should be pro-independence and uphold the spirit of Liberation War, Everyone present at the meeting supported my call and requested the committee to pick honest, loyal and competent people," said senior lawyer Mansurul Haque Chowdhury.
Shyamal Dutta, editor of Bangla daily Bhorer Kagoj, said "The next election is very important for Bangladesh. A strong Election Commission is needed to oversee it and the responsibility for that falls on the search committee."
He also underscored the need for minority participation in the commission for fair representation. "Minorities are the biggest victims in any election. Minorities have not been represented in the current Election Commission. We have also asked the committee to pick representatives from the media who have a good standing in civil society.”
Mozammel Babu, editor-in-chief of Ekattor Television, reiterated the call for the names of potential candidates to be revealed beforehand in order to avoid any controversy.
"There should be no controversy over those who will be involved in the commission. We have said that the names of those who will be selected should be given to the media a few days in advance. If you know the names, you can let people know to see if there are any complaints.”
"Those who are in religious and ethnic minority groups and women are more likely to face violence in elections. So they should be represented in the commission. This will give those groups the courage to vote."
The first meeting, which started at 11:15 am, was attended by most of the invitees but some of them were not seen.
Former attorneys general AFM Hasan Arif and Fida M Kamal, former president of the Supreme Court Bar Association Yusuf Hossain Humayun, senior lawyers Mansurul Haque Chowdhury, Rokanuddin Mahmud and Shahdeen Malik, former additional attorney general MK Rahman, former cabinet secretary Ali Imam Majumder, Dhaka University Pro Vice-Chancellor Prof Maksud Kamal, Prof Borhan Uddin Khan and Prof Asif Nazrul of DU's Law Department, President of the Asiatic Society Mahfuza Khanam, CEO of non-governmental organisation Brotee Sharmeen Murshid and President of the Fair Election Monitoring Alliance (FEMA) Munira Khan were in attendance.
The search committee then sat down with another group of eminent citizens at 1pm.
Golam Rahman, editor of the Bangla daily Ajker Patrika, Zafrullah Chowdhury of Gonoshasthaya Kendra, Abed Khan, editor of daily Jagaran, Saiful Alam, editor of Jugantar, Shyamal Dutta, editor of Bhorer Kagoj, AK Azad, managing director of Channel 24, Farida Yasmin, president of the Jatiya Press Club, Mozammel Babu of Ekattor Television, Tasmima Hossain, acting editor of daily Ittefaq, Zahirul Alam, news editor of NTV and journalist Swadesh Roy attended the meeting.
The search committee is set to hold discussions with a total of 60 distinguished citizens, including lawyers, teachers, bureaucrats, doctors, researchers and election monitoring organisations.
The final meeting is scheduled for Sunday.
The law requires the committee to propose a list of 10 nominees to the president within 15 working days from its formation, with two candidates for each of the five positions, including that of the chief election commissioner.
The president will then form the 13th Election Commission by picking candidates from the list.
The tenure of the current KM Nurul Huda-led commission will end on Feb 14.
The committee is under a duty to carry out its responsibilities impartially and transparently.
It will nominate a chief commissioner and commissioners according to the requisite qualifications, prohibitions, experience, skills and reputation, as stated by the law.