Editorial
Holding polls for divided DCC
Reconstitution of EC is the prime task
The Election Commission (EC) has expressed its inability to hold the polls for the deconstructed Dhaka City Corporation (DCC) on the ground that its tenure in office will come to an end in the second half of February 2012.
Since the elections have to be held within 90 days of the enactment of the law to divide DCC, the incumbent EC holds the view that it will be hard pressed for time to do the job.
The EC's position on starting the preparatory work for holding the DCC elections arises from the precipitation of the present situation over the splitting of the DCC. And the EC's reservations about taking up the job within the time it has at its disposal is a point that merits consideration.
Given the scenario, the task of holding elections for the divided DCC, or any election for that matter, will practically devolve on the new EC to be reconstituted in February, 2012.
In the circumstances, reconstitution of the new EC becomes the pressing task before the incumbent Awami League (AL)-led government. Though there is very little time in hand, the government has not taken any visible step to form the new EC.
The issue has taken an added importance, especially after scrapping of the caretaker system of government (CTG) in June 2011. Now the onus of creating the congenial condition for holding a fair and credible election for the upcoming 10th Jatiya Sangsad (JS) lies on a reconstituted, fully independent EC. All the political parties have a common stake in getting an appropriately constituted EC in place.
The prime task before the incumbent government will therefore be to start the process of forming the next EC taking all the parties including the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) into confidence. Actually, how the EC is formed and with what degree of independence is an acid test for the government in terms of its sincerity and seriousness about holding a credible election.
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