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The search for a new Election Commission

Published : Tuesday, 7 February, 2017 at 7:25 PM  Count : 306
Syed Badrul Ahsan
The search committee entrusted with the responsibility of proposing names to constitute the next Election Commission has been at work. There is little question that the six members of the committee are determined to make a good show of themselves as they go about their delicate business. It might even be possible for them to leave behind, for the country, a lasting legacy. These are all individuals whose sense of responsibility has always been paramount in the various professions they have been engaged in. It was quite natural, therefore, for President Abdul Hamid to reach his considered conclusion that these six respected citizens would be able to come up with a list of names of people who could all be considered for the positions that will need filling once the existing EC ends its term in office early in February.
The benchmark the six-member search committee has surely set for itself will have been in light of what the outgoing Election Commission has been able or unable to accomplish during its time in office. Obviously, the lapses of the departing EC far outweigh its achievements. That should be reason enough for the search committee to be extra careful in suggesting who should be there at the next EC and who should be left out of any consideration. A point to be noted about these six individuals is that they hold fealty, all of them, to the fundamental principles upon which Bangladesh was founded in 1971. But to suggest or insinuate that they are therefore partisan or aligned with the ruling Awami League would be unfortunate. That is a point which appears to have escaped some of the leading lights in the political opposition. They have detected in the search committee whiffs of Awami League influence.
And that again is reason for the committee to be extremely circumspect in its interaction with the political parties and civil society on the probable shape of the new EC. The committee has been meeting a number of leading personalities, each with a record of public service, and plans to carry on with the dialogue. Its objective of hearing out the political parties is, again, a broad hint of the seriousness it attaches to the issue. It will be on the constitution of the new Election Commission that the success or otherwise of democracy will depend. From that perspective, this need for comprehensive discussions with the various stakeholders in the political process is understandable. But after that comes the moment of decision.
The search committee will not decide who will people the next EC. The President of the republic will. But the President's decision will be a reflection in many ways of the sagacity the search committee brings to bear on its eventual listing of names for the Election Commission. In a country where political objectivity has been in short supply and partisanship has had the run of the place, it will be hard for the search committee to convince everyone that the individual political baggage of its members will not be reflected in the decision it makes. That decision, as has been made clear, will be arrived at through an extensive exchange of ideas with people across the spectrum. But this dialogue must have its logical end. Too much of conversation will consume too much of time. At a point, the members of the committee must sit back and mull their priorities.
At the end of the day, though, whatever decision the search committee arrives at, whatever the ultimate move the President makes, the feeling must be uppermost in the public mind that the effort has quite paid off. Nothing must be done that will have the new EC undercut right at the beginning of its term. For that to be a guarantee, the committee can zero in on individuals noted for professional as well as personal probity. While their politics will be a matter of record, what needs to be taken into account is the degree of boldness and integrity they can bring into carrying out their responsibilities. The Chief Election Commissioner and the Election Commissioners ought to be men and women not afraid to speak truth to power, to look political elements in the eye and thereby assert themselves. The CEC and the ECs must never be intimidated. They will be the ones who politicians and their followers should be careful about not disturbing as they go about their work.
A tall order? Easier said than done? Perhaps. But after Magura 1994, after the brazenness of the Justice Aziz-led EC, after the pusillanimity of the Rakibuddin-headed Election Commission, a change would be welcome. That is the message the search committee and President Hamid must send out to the political parties, to civil society, to citizens.
And where should the focus be in this search for names? Leave out superannuated bureaucrats. Leave out retired military officers. Leave out businessmen. And go looking for men and women of wisdom and courage among academics and lawyers and journalists and, of course, judges enjoying the glow of twilight.
The search committee cannot afford to fail. Neither can the President.
Leave out superannuated bureaucrats. Leave out retired military officers. Leave out businessmen. And go looking for men and women of wisdom and courage among academics and lawyers and journalists and, of course, judges enjoying the glow of twilight.
Syed Badrul Ahsan is Associate Editor, The Daily Observer




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