The Election Commission (EC) is going to lose the power to cancel candidacy for violating electoral laws following the amendment to the Representation of the People Order (RPO).
As per the government prescription, the EC has decided to hand over its power to the government to cancel candidature for violating electoral code of conduct during the polls.
The EC has decided to amend the RPO, and will once again send it to the law ministry for vetting this week.
This is the fifth time the EC will send the proposed RPO to the ministry. The EC will formally sit at a meeting in this regard soon.
On Thursday, the EC sent the proposed RPO to the law ministry. But the ministry sent it back to the EC to repeal the article that empowers it to cancel candidature in the RPO.
The commission discussed the matter on Sunday at an informal meeting.
When asked about the matter, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmad did not make any comments. The EC Secretary Dr Mohammad Sadik did not say anything either.
Election Commissioner Md Shah Newaz said: “We have already sent the RPO to the law ministry. Now we are discussing one or two sections of the RPO.”
When asked about the exclusion of the Article 91(E) from the RPO that entrusts the EC with the powerto cancel candidature of a person in case of his violating electoral rules he said: “Little do I know about it; I cannot say about it in details.”
Sources of the EC confirmed on Sunday the law ministry asked the EC to exclude the Article 91(E) of the RPO. The election commissioner discussed the matter for a long time.
The Article 91(E) (1) states if any serious allegation is lodged against any candidate or his representative or one of his supporters and if the allegation is proved, the EC could cancel the candidacy of the candidate concerned. The EC could also form an investigation committee in this regard, it says.
The Article 91(E) (2) says after receiving the investigation report, the EC can cancel the candidacy by issuing a written order.
If there is only one candidate left the EC can declare him/her winner and it even can postpone the election and announce the re-election under the Article 17. Former election commissioner M Sakhawat Hossain said if the Article in the RPO is scrapped, the EC would lose its power to cancel the candidacy against any major allegations.
The EC should discuss the matter with the political parties and civil society, he observed.
