When a person makes any specific issue as his or her central issue and when this is challenged in the court of law, and when the highest court of the country --the Supreme Court-- pronounces against it, then that person ( the CEC is also a sitting judge of the Supreme Court) ceases to command the moral right to hold on to that office. That is precisely what has happened to CEC Justice MA Aziz and two newly appointed Election Commissioners and self respect dictates that they must go. Not only have they made a wrong decision, they made an illegal decision as is shown by the Supreme Court. Under their wrong/illegal decision, Tk 60 crore has already been spent. If we count the unpaid bills, it is likely to cross Tk 100 crore. Will Justice Aziz and his two Commissioners be held accountable for this illegal expenditure?

From the very beginning of his assumption of office as CEC in May 2005, Justice Aziz made it known that he intended to go for a new voter list. When the two sitting Election Commissioners -- M Munsef Ali and AK Mohammed Ali -- objected, saying that the existing law clearly called for updating the existing voter list, he started ignoring them completely. So much so that after their meeting in August 05, the CEC stopped meeting them or talking to them over telephone till Januray this year, when two new Election Commissioners, more pliable to his way of thinking, were appointed to office. These two Commissioners -- former secretary to the EC SM Zakaria and Justice Mahfuzur Rahman -- immediately after assuming office started publicly criticising Munsef Ali and Mohammed Ali saying that they were misleading the public, and fully supported the CEC in his move to make a new voter list.

In the meantime, Awami League General Secretary Abdul Jalil and two others went to the High Court (HC) challenging the CEC's move to go for a fresh voter list. In January this year, the HC pronounced that taking the previous voter list as the base, the list should be updated to include new voters and eliminate those who died, etc. The directive clearly called for updating of the voter list and not making a new one. Of the two new commissioners, Justice Mahfuzur went public criticising the verdict saying the HC had no power to pass such a judgement and give directives to the EC.

In a meeting of the EC, where the voting was three to two, with Aziz, Zakaria and Mahfuzur on one side and Munsef and Mohhammed on the other, it was decided that the EC would appeal to the Supreme Court. Munsef Ali and Mohammed Ali retired last month. Now rid of the two dissenting commissioners, the CEC had no problem in having his way. While the appeal process was on, the CEC with the support of his two new commissioners went full speed ahead with the preparation of the fresh voter list. It was apparent from the way the voter list was being prepared that not much care was being taken to ensure its authenticity.

On May 3, the nation was stunned to discover that the voters had grown a whopping 22 percent as compared to the previous list totally contradicting the official statistics of our projected voter growth as per figures of 2001 census report. Stories after stories came out about fake voters, voters from non-existent villages, a single house having nearly 100 voters while whole villages having less than 10. Stranded Pakistanis who refuse to be voters having their names included and Rohingas refugees being made voters. Prominent persons including sitting MPs being excluded from voter list. In short the voter list was a scandal.

The CEC's attitude to the press is a story in itself. He never seemed to have realised that the role of the Election Commission was always to operate on the principle of complete disclosure and full public confidence. He did not seem to understand that not only was the EC to act with the highest propriety but also had to be seen to be doing so. He found the media to be meddling in his arbitrary ways and started first castigating it and them shutting it off.

The role of SM Zakaria while he was secretary to the EC needs to be underscored here. During the last two years of the tenure of the former CEC MA Sayeed, he declined to attend any meeting. When Sayeed asked the government to give him a new secretary, Khaleda Zia's government gave Zakaria an extension in the post. Known for his total loyalty to the present government, he was rewarded with the post of election commissioner. His public support for the new voter list, which has now been turned down by the Supreme Court, also deprives him of any moral authority to continue as election commissioner. The same holds true for Justice Mahfuzur Rahman.

National Election is the process through which the majesty of public opinion is expressed. It is a most sacred task and we need people upon whom the public in general can repose the highest trust. However regrettable, Justice Aziz and Justice Mahfuzur do not enjoy that trust anymore. Zakaria never had it. It was only the government's extreme partisan decision that brought him here. For the sake of democracy and for a free and fair election, and before further indignity befalls them, they should resign.

That will be their best service to the nation.

As for the government, we hope a significant lesson is learnt. Do not try to influence the election process by fiddling with the Election Commission. As our PM never tires of telling us about upholding the image of the country, can we return the favour and say, for God's sake constitute a truly independent Election Commission after taking all parties into confidence. Let us move away from the destructive logic of "Since we were not consulted in selecting the CEC when we were in the opposition, we will not consult anyone now." Too many crises are converging all at once. To overcome them, we need unity. The process of unity can begin with the process of selecting a new CEC and new commissioners. We are assuming that our appeal to self-respect will not fall on deaf ears.