Constitution and legal experts have criticised the ruling Awami League’s plan to prolong the current parliament up to January to hold the next general elections in March, terming it “immoral and unethical.”
Similarly, the Election Commission would violate the constitution if they failed to hold the polls before January 24.
They also observed that the party would fetch more trouble for the party in the polls.
“They [AL] perhaps can hold the elections in March by exploiting the words of the constitution, but this will be highly unethical and immoral according to the spirit of the constitution, which is for gentlemen,” eminent jurist Shahdin Malik told the Dhaka Tribune.
“I suppose this as an ungentlemanlike approach of the government,” he said referring that the parliamentary form of government was established based on civility and values.
He said the prime minister should not suggest the president to dissolve parliament in January – a move which would be a deviation from the constitutional spirit. He suggested that the parliament must be dissolved on October 26 this year – 90 days ahead of the five-year mandate of the government.
Again, he said, the constitution compels the Election Commission to hold the polls before January 24 next year.
“The constitutional spirit is that one elected government will hand over power to another elected government. A government elected for five years must not stay one second more than the mandate,” said the senior lawyer who also stands for the Election Commission at court.
He cited that article 123 (3) (b) stipulated holding the polls by the next 90 days if parliament was dissolved immediately for reasons other than completion of its five-year tenure.
“This provision will help holding the polls early, not later,” Shahdin Malik said.
A member of the constitution-framing committee told the Dhaka Tribune: “The prime minister and her MPs were elected for five years; they will lose legitimacy after January 24. If the prime minister and the cabinet stay on power after that day, it will be a violation of the constitutional spirit of not placing the state under any unelected person or people not having any popular mandate even for a second.”
Requesting anonymity, he said the government had scrapped the non-party caretaker government on the ground that the council of advisors had no popular mandate, they were unelected.
“If the present cabinet stays in office beyond January 24, their legitimacy will cease,” he added.
M Sakhawat Hossain, a former election commissioner, told the Dhaka Tribune that the commission was constitutionally bound to hold the polls before January 24.
“Announcement of the polls schedule will bring all state authorities under the Election Commission,” he said.
Shahdin Malik said such misinterpretation of the constitution came to the fore as the people who are not gentlemen had been holding the constitutional posts. “So, they only see the constitution in this way without the essence of the highest charter,” he said.
“What benefit will the Awami League get by retaining power for three more months? Instead, such move will spell further debacles over the polls,” he observed.