Dr Badiul Alam Majumdar, head of the Election Reform Commission, referring to a rural Bangla proverb, has said that two spiritual leaders (pir) cannot stay in the same house as he expressed doubt over the effectiveness of the Women’s Reform Commission’s proposal to elect both male and female representatives from the same constituency.
He made these remarks on Sunday afternoon at a discussion titled “Direct election of women representatives in parliament for political empowerment of women: Necessity, challenges, and solutions,” organized by the Nagorik Coalition in the conference centre of the English daily The Daily Star.
The chief of the Election Reform Commission said that, under the current electoral system, many male MPs often obstruct the activities of women holding reserved seats. "In such a situation, having two elected MPs from the same constituency would be highly problematic."
He also expressed concern that increasing the number of reserved seats for women from 50 to 100 could lead to even more severe nomination trade.
Badiul added that the proposal put forward by the Election Reform Commission aims to produce a new wave of female leadership across the country, which would eventually eliminate the need for reserved seats.
Representatives from various political parties and civil society groups participated in the discussion, emphasizing the need for significant electoral and constitutional reforms to introduce a direct election process for women representatives in the next parliament to ensure fair representation of women in politics.
