The civil society body SHUJAN has called on the Election Commission search committee to disclose the names of the 50 shortlisted candidates for the formation of the new commission.
They made the call at an online press conference to demand a transparent appointment of reputable and courageous people to the Election Commission on Thursday.
The speakers noted that the primary condition for a fair election was a transparent election commission, which was why the names of all the members of the committee should be made public.
In order to give effect to the provision of the law that dictates 'following the principle of transparency and impartiality,’ the search committee must determine a proper procedure, said SHUJAN Secretary Badiul Alam Majumdar.
“So far, we have not received any clear idea from the committee,” he said.
Majumder claimed that full transparency had not been ensured as the committee was yet to disclose the names of the shortlisted candidates.
Meanwhile, Supreme Court Advocate Shahdeen Malik said that not only the names of the candidates but the names of the nominating party should also be disclosed.
SHUJAN member Robaet Ferdous said that it was about time “we started thinking of the constitution.”
A provision should be added that deters the president from taking the prime minister’s advice in the case of appointing the prime minister, chief justice and election commissioners.
The Election Commission search committee has so far short-listed 50 candidates nominated for the commission.
However, the search for 10 suitable candidates is still ongoing.
The previous Election Commission led by KM Nurul Huda had been mired in controversy, accused as it was of partiality and bias towards the ruling party.
SHUJAN made the following suggestions for the appointment of honest and competent people to the commission.
The suggestions include disclosing complete information and not concealing anything, disclosure of the names of the proposers, political parties and professional organizations, shortlisting 20-30 people, including at least one-third of the women from the initial list and publishing it. It also suggested taking a briefing of the people included in the shortlist and getting information on them from various sources.
Moreover, the names of the 10 finalists should be made public three days before they were sent to the president, they said.
