Editorial
A step towards EC formation
Search committee's nominations should be above controversy
With the formation of a search committee comprising an Appellate Division judge as its head, and a High Court judge, the comptroller and auditor general and the chairman of the Public Service Commission as its members, a process of reconstitution of the EC has got underway. This is for the first time that a search committee has been formed to recommend two names each for the post of Chief Election Commissioner as well as those of three commissioners one of whom will have to be a woman.
It is important to note the committee has only 10 days to come up with their lists of nominees for the President to choose from and appoint the finally selected nominees to the statutory positions. So, the speed at which they will have to find the names should not in any way lead to a compromise on the probity and acceptability of the persons they end up recommending.
Since the search committee is nominated by the government, it is all the more reason why it should prove its efficacy by the quality of its deeds. The people expect them to act independently and transparently strictly in accordance with the constitutional principles.
In Bangladesh, the experience with search committees such as for ACC, Information Commission and NHRC has not been all that cheery. That is because, while the government was obliged to play a hands-on role, the opposition contented itself with a hands-off approach.
We would argue that reconstitution of the Election Commission is a pressing agenda while the caretaker issue is not time-bound in immediate terms. Constitution of a neutral, competent and professionally sound Election Commission is an agenda that stands on its own leg and in which all political parties have an equal stake. May we, therefore, urge the opposition to send in the names of persons they consider suitable for the posts. Nothing stops them from doing it, either at formal or informal levels.
Finally, the formation of the search committee does not in any way preclude the opposition's legitimate concern for the restoration of caretaker system within the ambit of the Supreme Court's observation for a limited waiver to its verdict on the question.
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