Bureaucratic tangle disrupts EC activities, says Sakhawat
Prof Muzaffer Ahmad speaks at a roundtable organised by Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) in the city's Brac Centre yesterday. On his right are TIB Trustee Board Chairman M Hafizuddin Khan, Election Commissioner M Sakhawat Hossain and TIB Executive Director Iftekharuzzaman.Photo: STAR
The bureaucratic pressure on the activities of the election commission is higher than that of the political parties, said Election Commissioner M Sakhawat Hossain yesterday. “It is not the politics rather bureaucratic tangle behind the disruption of the activities of the election commission,” he said while addressing a roundtable in the city's Brac Centre. Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) arranged the discussion on participation and expectation of locals in the process of nominating candidates for the national elections. Speaking as the chief guest, Sakhawat said political parties considered the election commission as a post office for most of the time in the country's history. This excludes the period of the present commissioners, he added. “The election commission could not be structurally strong as political parties, most of the time, considered it a post office and the people who worked there during those periods ran it that way,” the commissioner added. He said now the commission is facing difficulties to come out of the concept of post office. Despite order from the chief executive of the state, the EC could not set up server stations at district level in the country because of bureaucratic tangle, Sakhawat claimed. He said the server stations would be necessary for digitising commission's activities. Presiding over the session, TIB Trustee Board Chairman M Hafizuddin Khan said exercise of democracy is still absent within the political parties. He said nothing productive would come out without praticing democracy within political parties. Civil society personality Prof Muzaffer Ahmad said proper role of media is important during national elections. He said the election commission should concentrate more closely on the election expenditure of candidates. Badiul Alam Majumder, member secretary of Sushasoner Jonno Nagorik (Sujan), said it is tough to establish good governance unless democracy within the political parties is exercised. He stressed the need for practicing professionalism within the political parties, more participation of civil society members and media and strengthening of the election commission. These are essential to ensure locals' participation in selecting their candidates for the national elections to establish democratic practices, he added. Awami League lawmaker Hafiz Ahmed Mazumder criticised a section of lawmakers and bureaucrats for not strengthening the local governments. Dhaka University Prof Salahuddin M Aminuzzaman, former secretary Abdul Latif Mandal and Sharmeen Murshid, chief executive officer of Brotee spoke on the occasion. TIB Executive Director Iftekharuzzaman moderated the discussion.
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