Monday | 13 January 2025 | Reg No- 06
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Monday | 13 January 2025 | Epaper

Election Commission... a strong arm of democracy

Published : Wednesday, 15 February, 2017 at 12:00 AM  Count : 340
Mahbubar Rahman

"Democracy is the worst form of government except for all those other form that have been tried."
    ï¿½Sir Winston Churchill
Being a 'worst form of government' as Churchill observed, democracy has so far survived in the race with other form of government and proven to be the best. It is a form of "government of the people, by the people and for the people" as Abraham Lincoln envisaged. Democracy has its root dating back the era of Socrates, Plato and Aristotle in ancient Greece and over the ages it has flourished through the process of trial and error. Nevertheless, democracy sometimes turns into a peoples' tyranny and causes enormous damages to the state craft. Populism, bigotry and demagoguery surfaces in the garb of democracy and often take the system to total disarray and jeopardy. Populist leaders following the Machiavellian political doctrine which denies the relevance of morality in political affair and hold that crafts and deceit are justified in pursuing and maintaining political power, often flourish. Democratic institution that has so far been developed and flourished in the Western World took ages after ages to take strong footings and foundations through trial and error. It is not like a proverbial rose garden that comes only by the wishes with magic wand in hands. Needless to emphasize that practice of a long enduring democratic culture of tolerance and respecting the views of others is the cardinal principle of democracy.  
In Bangladesh, democracy is still in the nascent stage and struggling hard to take a strong footing through free, fair and participatory election based on adult franchise--- a core value of democratic system. It goes without saying that a free, fair and powerful Election Commission (EC) is of prime necessity to conduct elections toward establishing a meaningful and functional democracy.  
Over a last couple of months, a tempest has been soaring in the tea-cup of the 'politically conscious' citizens including the 'all knowing' TV talk-show chatterers who enlighten the viewers with their 'refulgence' and 'erudition' how a credible EC can be constituted. The Honorable President of the Republic with his kind initiative constituted a Search Committee --- an extra constitutional body consists of selected five distinguished citizens from the civil society to suggest names of a bunch of credible and impartial people for appointment as members of the EC. The five distinguished citizens of the search committee in their endeavor, talked to as many as 120 people from different classes of the society including political parties to suggest names eligible for appointment. With all these hectic exercise of ruining up and down from door to door, the Search Committee at last suggested 10 names to the Honorable President; and out of which the Honorable President picked up and appointed 5 eminent citizens to form EC, with Mr KM Nurul Huda as the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC). With the announcement of names, along with ordinary citizens in millions, the ruling party Awami League expressed their satisfaction and pledged to hold a credible election in 2019 under the newly constituted EC.
Before the ongoing storm in the 'tea-cup' is settled, a new wave of more powerful storm like 'roaring forties' started blasting over tea-cups' with expression of utter disappointment infested in vitriolic comments and observations from the main opposition political party and their allies. Our bad political culture suggest that any efforts being initiated by the government, good or bad, is first either summarily rejected or smeared with never ending words of sophistry without testifying the nuances of merits and demerits of the proposal. A large opposition party having in their credit ruling the country at least for two terms unfortunately makes very unkind and irresponsible response to government's any move of running the government in the public interest including formation process of EC for conducting election in Bangladesh. Election commissions, ever since Bangladesh came into existence, were always subject to harsh and brazen criticism by the anti-establishment camps inspite of the fact that a few EC made commendable achievements in presenting credible elections in the past. It is also no denying the fact that a few EC of the past having influenced and inspired by the partisan jingoism made the sacred constitutional body extremely controversial and not trust-worthy.    
The newly constituted EC headed by KM Nurul Huda has a great sacred task ahead. The commission not yet having taken oath, is still in a gestation time. But unfortunately a spokesman widely known as being a garrulous with brimstone rhetoric in making statement on behalf of a political party has already branded KM Nurul Huda as a partisan man and asked him to resign before taking oath. Far from being a wishful statement from a spokesman, it sounds ridiculous and funny childish whim to ask CEC to resign from his position before he takes oath and sets him and his team in motion to deliver goods that he is supposed to deliver to the nation a free, fair and credible election. Sadly, it is like a proposal to terminate a baby with a pulsating heart in the mother's womb before the baby is shown the light of the world. The spokesman of a political party in question appears to have invented a proclivity of KM Nurul Huda with Janatar Mancha (Peoples' platform) at the time when Janatar Mancha was staged in 1996 to unseat an illegal government who, presumably by pursuing the Machiavellian political doctrine conspired to be hinged in power through an unethical means. KM Nurul Huda, of course, in the meantime, strongly denied the accusation as baseless as because he was posted at that time as Deputy Commissioner at Comilla and had nothing to do with Janatar Mancha.
To refresh memory, it is not out of place to recapitulate at this point that the Janatar Mancha was staged at that time consequent upon illegal accession of a political party to the seat of power totally ignoring the wishes of the people with members of the killing squad Freedom Party and others of their likes to 'glorify' the seat of opposition in the parliament. A mass political upheaval shook the country where all sections of people including the serving government officials took to the street to overthrow the very short lived illegal government with a view to saving the country from total anarchy and lawlessness.
In a peculiar situation where the country's future falls in total disarray in ominous hands, then it becomes imperative for all citizens of the Republic including government officials to come forward and express solidarity with the state instead of government In the contemporary world, many such instances like Bangabandhu's non co-operation movement, Orange Revolution, Arab Spring, Saffron Revolution can be cited where mass upsurge overthrew the government toward infusing new life in the system of governance. Thanks God, that the then government which succumbed to peoples' demand ultimately resigned and agreed to install a caretaker administration and an effective Election Commission to conduct a credible election toward peaceful transfer of power. KM Nurul Huda and many other officers of his likes belonging to 1973 BCS batch fell prey to the vengeance of the government who again came back to power in 2001. Having pushed backed into the hot cauldron of retribution, most of the officers of the 1973 BCS batch were either made OSD (officer on special duty) or shown the door after force retirement.
A valiant freedom fighter--- KM Nurul Huda served the state of Bangladesh with unwavering diligence and impeccable integrity. With a clean track record in the service, KM Nurul Huda retired from the service as secretary and remained absolutely non-partisan till such time he has been appointed CEC. KM Nurul Huda and his four other colleagues in EC will take oath on 15 February as CEC and EC respectively to conduct a free, fair and participatory election in 2019. As an ex-colleague in service and now a good friend, I know Huda for last 44 years. A brave freedom fighter out of conviction, I saw in KM Nurul Huda an undaunted soul who remained also steadfast in his duties, commitments and obligations. With his unflinching faith in destiny, he will never succumb to any pressure or influence coming from any corner whatsoever. Like him, his other four colleagues have also stood the test of time with clean records in their respective field of works in the service. I am confident, KM Nurul Huda and his four other colleagues in EC, with their resilience, prudence, conviction, good sense of proportion and amiable disposition will ultimately earn the confidence of all stake-holders in the election and prove equal to the task at the end of the day. I wish them all success.
Before I conclude, I wish to pay a tribute to the members of the outgoing EC for commendable services that they have rendered to the nation during their five years tenure in the office. A soft spoken man, meticulously composed in his words and actions, Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmed--- the CEC who I knew as a man of distinction and high esteem when I was at work at the UNIDO, IPS, TOKYO as Bangladesh Country Delegate and have had few interactions with him when he was serving as Economic Minister at Bangladesh Mission in Tokyo in 1987-88. As he is known as the living lexicon of rules and regulation and other provisions of relevant laws, Mr Mohammad Abdul Mobarak---the EC made his praiseworthy contribution equally to the Commission during his tenure of work in the office of the EC. An old friend and colleague of mine for more than half a century, I know Mobarak as a man symbolizing straight forwardness in his words and actions who calls 'spade as spade'. Other members of the outgoing EC are equally men of distinction in their works. Their contributions to EC will be long remembered no matter how cruelty they were often smeared with derogatory, unkind and un-parliamentarian words by a section of politicians, presumably apathetic to showing due respects to people. They all deserve unperturbed and joyful life on retirement. I wish all of them in good spirit and health. God bless us all.r
Mahbubar Rahman is a former civil servant






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