Former election commissioners and eminent citizens said at a discussion on Wednesday that the names of persons whom a search committee would recommend to the president for appointment of the chief election commissioner and other election commissioners should be made public.
The Shusasoner Jonnya Nagorik organised the discussion virtually on the EC formation bill.
Former chief election commissioner ATM Shamsul Huda said that no law could be made regarding the election commission if mistrust continued to prevail.
If any formal and informal allegation surface against anyone or that person has any kind of character flaws, he or she should not be appointed an election commissioner, he added.
The names of those who are recommended for the appointment should be disclosed to the public, he further said.
Both Shamsul Huda and former election commissioner Sakhawat Hussain said that there should be involvement of a parliament standing committee during the process of recruitment of election commissioners before the president appoints them.
Sakhawat said that the Election Commission led by Shamsul Huda prepared a draft law on the appointment of election commissioners and proposed that the names recommended by the search committee should be sent to the Business Advisory Committee of the parliament for scrutiny.
‘Proposed names should be discussed by the Business Advisory Committee of the parliament as the prime minister and the leader of opposition of the parliament are members of that parliamentary standing committee,’ Sakhawat said.
The two issues that should be considered before the appointment of an election commissioner are whether the person is neutral and whether s/he has the ability and courage to enforce the law, Sakhawat remarked.
Shujan secretary Badiul Alam Majumdar alleged that under the proposed law, the government would have scopes to form a search committee of its own people.
While moderating the webinar, Centre for Policy Dialogue distinguished fellow Professor Rounaq Jahan said that ‘political consensus’ and transparency were vital issues in the appointment process of election commissioners.
Dhaka University law professor Asif Nazrul said that the EC law was being enacted to fulfil the wish of the government.
‘Without ensuring the neutrality of the government, it is not possible to ensure fair elections even after enacting the law’, he said.
At the webinar, the Shujan recommended that three members from lawmakers — one each from the ruling party, the opposition party and the third largest party — should be included in the search committee.
It said that the search committee should publish a preliminary list on a website or a public notice and public hearings should be held on the persons on the preliminary list as interviews of them should also take place.
Among others, Shujan central coordinator Dilip Kumar, its members Shafiuddin Ahmed and Ekram Hossain were present in the webinar.
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