A high-powered inquiry committee, which unearthed the reasons behind the failure of the project for issuing voter ID cards before the parliamentary election in 1996, said the EC's step to stop the process of issuing the cards was not lawful as it is mandatory for the commission to issue them, according to sources.

But the EC has been ignoring the legal provision since 2000 and now the reconstituted EC, which initiated the process of bringing massive reforms in electoral laws, has yet to decide whether it will issue the ID cards.

Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) ATM Shamsul Huda last Sunday said the EC will take a decision on whether it will issue voter ID cards or a voter list with photographs after considering different options.

Officials of the EC Secretariat however said the process of issuing the ID cards was stopped as mandatory use of the cards in elections had been suspended. But the existing laws empower the EC to issue voter ID cards and it can start the process of issuing them anytime, the officials added.

Since the introduction of the laws regarding issuance of the ID cards in 1994, the EC continued the process of issuance between 1995 and 2000, but could not complete it. It prepared voter lists twice, in 2000 and 2006, but it did not consider implementation of the electoral laws regarding issuance of voter ID cards, the sources said.

The laws say the EC shall issue identity cards to every voter and no voter will be allowed to have ballot papers to exercise his or her right to franchise if he or she fails to show the card.

The EC had taken up a project in 1995 to provide voters with ID cards, but only 20 percent of the project was completed before the parliamentary election in 1996 due to time constraint.

Finally the provision, which had made showing of voter ID cards mandatory to have ballot papers, was suspended allowing voters to exercise their right to franchise without showing any card during the parliamentary elections on February 15 and June 12 in 1996.

But the provision for issuance of the identity cards however was not suspended. The electoral rolls ordinance and rules say the EC shall issue ID cards to each voter, according to the inquiry committee formed by the government in 1996 to unearth the reasons behind the failure of the voter ID card project.

The project was completed in 2000 with a cost of Tk 139 crore, but failed to issue ID cards to all voters. According to documents available at the EC Secretariat the project completed issuing ID cards among 70 percent of the voters.

But the completed project was full of flaws, said officials of the EC Secretariat.

The project that had begun in 1995 was suspended for 17 months from 1996 to 1997 due to the erstwhile government's indecision about whether to continue it. It began again in November 1997 and continued till June 2000.

EC Secretariat officials said the commission did not dare to resume the task of issuing voter ID cards again because of the failure of its first project.