C T Online Desk: Dr Badiul Alam Majumdar, head of the Electoral System Reform Commission, said that recommendations have been made to prevent individuals involved in corruption, crimes against humanity, or extrajudicial killings from participating in elections.
He made these remarks as the chief guest at a seminar held at the Bangladesh Rural Development Academy (BRDA) in Kotbari, Comilla, around 2pm on Saturday.
He said that the sacrifices of the martyrs must not go in vain, and in consideration of this, 150 recommendations have been proposed.
Badiul Alam Majumdar said: “We must rid our political landscape of criminals, so that autocrats and fascists cannot return to occupy seats in parliament. Thousands of people lost their lives, and many others were injured or disabled during the people’s uprisings. Their sacrifice must not be in vain, and we must work toward that goal. From the reform commission, we have made nearly 150 recommendations to the government.”
Regarding the commission’s recommendations to strengthen the electoral system, Badiul Alam Majumdar said: “For the past three and a half months, we, eight members of the Election Reform Commission, have reviewed all laws and regulations. After a detailed process, we have made about 150 recommendations to strengthen the electoral system. One of our recommendations was about the National ID (NID) law. Under this law, the control of NID was transferred to the Ministry of Home Affairs, but we have recommended its repeal, and the control has already been returned to the Election Commission.”
On the eligibility criteria for election participants, he added: “We have made several recommendations to ensure that those involved in corruption, crimes against humanity, or extrajudicial killings are not allowed to participate in elections.”
Badiul Alam Majumdar said that without cleaning up political parties, democracy could not be established in the country.
He said: “We have also proposed that political parties must be cleaned up. If political parties are not democratic, transparent, and not working for the welfare of the people, then democracy will not be established in the state. We have also recommended that a no vote provision be introduced. We have proposed setting up a special commission to investigate those involved in electoral fraud, particularly the controversial 2018 election, and bring them to justice.
“In a democratic state, no one is above accountability, and we have proposed that the Election Commission must be accountable to a parliamentary special committee. If the Election Commission commits any wrongdoing or violates the constitution, the parliamentary committee will conduct an investigation and report to the president,” he added.
