Contenders for the next parliamentary polls are now free to join a political party any time for nomination as parliament on Monday amended the electoral law, dropping a section that forced aspirants to wait for three years before getting party ticket.
The House enacted the Representation of the People Order (amendment) Bill 2013 by voice vote after the law minister had proposed its passage in the absence of the main opposition BNP.
According to section 12(j) of the RPO 1972, a political leader or businessman must spend three years at least as a member of the party concerned before vying for elections.
The military-led interim government in 2008 inserted the provision in consultation with the political parties ahead of the ninth parliamentary elections, mainly to stop intrusion of non-political and financially powerful people to buy party tickets.
The government tabled the amendment bill on September 30 to disqualify convicted war criminals from contesting the polls and change 17 other sections of the original RPO.
The bill had not originally proposed changing section 12(j), but the parliamentary standing committee on law ministry proposed cancelling the bar while scrutinising the bill on October 24.
Fazle Rabbi Miah, chairman of the committee, said the law had discriminated against a party candidate – who had to wait for three years – while an independent candidate did not face any such bar.
Fazle Rabbi tabled the standing committee recommendations in parliament on Sunday.
The committee, however, did not recommend dropping section 12(f), which makes it mandatory for a retired public servant to serve as a member of a political party for three years after their retirement.
At a dialogue with the Election Commission, Jatiya Party chief HM Ershad in 2011 demanded dropping of section 12(j) of the RPO. Jatiya Party lawmaker Mujibul Haque tabled a private member bill, asking for lifting the ban.
Many political observers said at that time that the Jatiya Party made the proposal with the hope of bringing a few BNP leaders into its fold in case of the BNP’s boycott of the next polls.
The MPs belonging to the BNP submitted notices to elicit public opinions and sent it to the select committee before passage of the law, but the proposals were not tabled as they were absent.
Shahid Uddin Chowdhury Anee, Nilufar Chowdhury Moni, Md Harunur Rashid, Rehana Akter Ranu, Shammi Akter, Mosharraf Hossain, Rasheda Begum Hira, Joynal Abdin, AM Mahbub Uddin Khokon, Fazlul Azim, Jafrul Islam Chowdhury, Nazim Uddin Ahmed, Syeda Asifa Ashrafi Papia, Lutfor Rahman, ZIM Mostofa Ali, Md Amzad Hossain and Abul Khayer Bhuiyan submitted the notices.
