Appellate Division Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha on Tuesday said free and fair election would not be possible if the Election Commission was not institutionalised.
He made the comment at a book-launching ceremony organised by Bangladesh Election Research Centre at the Supreme court Bar Association in the capital.
The book titled “Bangladesh Nirbachan (1947-2012)” written by advocate ABM Riazul Kabir Kauser.
Sinha said: “In India, election commissioners are appointed through a specific guideline, but in our country there is no specific guideline to appoint election commissioners,” he said.
He said Bangladesh’s Election Commission was not an institution.
“Until and unless the Election Commission is institutionalised, free and fair election will not be possible,” he said.
The democratic institutions in the country should be made stronger for the sake of democracy, he added.
On nomination of candidates, SK Sinha said chiefs of political parties nominated their candidates for elections while in other democratic countries, voters nominated their candidates.
He said it was the time to think about the matter.
About the election of the president in Bangladesh, Justice Sinha said there was no confidence in the ruling party MPs, which is why the president election was held without votes. But in real democracies votes were cast secretly to elect a president, he said.
Referring to article 70 in the constitution, he said the article did not protect democracy and it should be amended.
Speaker of parliament Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury, who attended the book-launching event, said all should know about different laws and the procedures to ensure the rule of law.
She expressed hope that the book would educate readers about the country’s electoral laws and procedures.
Election Commissioner Abdul Mobarak said all information – laws and procedure of election – was available in the book.
“There are many laws in the country, but there is no implementation of these laws,” he added.
