Constitutional bodies unable to play due role, say experts
Jagoree, a youth organisation, holds a discussion titled "People and constitution: Role of the constitutional bodies" at the Prothom Alo conference room in the city yesterday.Photo: STAR
The constitutional bodies of the country are failing to play their due role in ensuring the checks and balances in democracy, which are crucial, observed legal experts and youth leaders yesterday. They said bodies like the Election Commission, Anti-Corruption Commission, Public Service Commission and the judiciary are supposed to function independently, but somehow the executive branch of the state always exercises control over them. As the parliament is in the process of amending the constitution, these issues could be seriously discussed, they said. The observations came at a discussion titled "People and constitution: Role of the constitutional bodies" organised by Jagoree, a youth organisation, at the daily Prothom Alo conference room in the capital. "Constitution puts people at the heart of power. But today, the elected representatives are failing to play their role and are engaged in self-interests," said Dr Kamal Hossain. The members of the parliament are the ones to oversee the activities of the ministries but they are not carrying out their decisions effectively, rather are more interested in getting duty-free cars and other businesses, he said. "The political parties appear to be the zamindars and brokers. But it is the people who are the root of all power," Dr Kamal said. The whole spirit of the country's independence was to establish autonomy but today the local governments are not given autonomy, rather the lawmakers are trying to control them, he added. "It is also frustrating that the local government polls are not held in time," said the jurist, calling upon the young people to work relentlessly to create awareness among people to establish their rights. Barrister Rokanuddin Mahmud said the ACC appears to be frozen today. "Information Commission and National Human Rights Commission have been formed, but are they really functioning? Or have these been created to provide some people with jobs?" he questioned. People accused of criminal activities roam in broad daylight instead of being brought to justice, he said, adding that if that is the case, the rule of law will go down. Prothom Alo Assistant Editor Mizanur Rahman Khan said the prime minister holds a lot of power in the constitution, even in regulating the constitutional bodies, and this is a big flaw. The process of appointing judges and commissioners in other constitutional bodies is such that there is a control of the executive. This seriously hampers the independence of the process and thereby governance process, he said. "The chiefs of the Information Commission, ACC and Human Rights Commission should be appointed and removed as per rules but the rules have not been framed yet," he said. Prof Asif Nazrul of Dhaka University said peoples' civil and political rights are limited to those who are capable of appointing legal advisers with large sums of money. Ensuring right to food, housing and education of the citizens should be implemented as in the constitution, said the law professor. Jagoree Founding Member Bidhan Chandra Paul said youths should be involved in the amendment process of the constitution. Prothom Alo Joint Editor Abdul Qayum moderated the discussion.
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