Formation of EC: President 'highly likely' to form search committee
A search committee is likely to be formed to constitute the next Election Commission (EC), which would conduct the parliamentary elections in 2019.
President Abdul Hamid might form the committee after wrapping up talks with political parties on the formation of the EC, said a highly placed source at the Bangabhaban.
The President's Office on Thursday invited eight more political parties to the Bangabhaban for talks. The dialogue will end on January 18.
Talking to The Daily Star, the president's Press Secretary Joynal Abedin said this would probably be the last round of talks.
In 2012, the then president Zillur Rahman formed a search committee to constitute the EC after holding talks with 23 registered political parties.
The tenure of the incumbent EC expires next month.
President Hamid started talks with political parties on December 18 last year for forming the new EC through consensus.
The BNP suggested that the president should form a search committee and it recommended some names for selection of committee members.
Earlier, BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia had placed a proposal on the formation of the EC detailing how the commission should be formed and who could be the members of the search committee and election commissioners.
A delegation of the Awami League led by its president Sheikh Hasina held a meeting with President Abdul Hamid on December 11 where they requested the president to form a search committee, said party leaders.
“The president will make the decision on the appointment of election commissioners. We also want a law for appointing the election commissioners but there is a time constraint,” said Abdul Matin Khoshru, law affairs secretary of the party and a member of the delegation.
“After talking to the president, it seems to us that the president will appoint election commissioners through a search committee,” he told The Daily Star.
At the talks, Hasina said if possible, a suitable law or an ordinance could be promulgated now for appointing the chief election commissioner and other election commissioners.
“If this cannot be done right away due to time constraint, steps need to be taken to formulate a law for the formation of future election commissions,” President's Press Secretary Joynal Abedin quoted Hasina as saying.
On Thursday, Law Minister Anisul Huq told journalists that a law for the constitution of the Election Commission cannot be hurriedly formulated because such an act would have a far-reaching impact.
This law should be made after proper scrutiny and detailed assessment of relevant issues, he said.
When president Zillur Rahman held talks, the Awami league, the BNP, Jatiya Party and other major political parties participated in the process.
Following the talks, the then president formed a four-member search committee led by Supreme Court Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain to recommend people for appointment to the CEC and election commissioner posts.
The search committee had proposed 10 names.
The then ruling Awami League and five other parties recommended names for appointments but then opposition BNP, AL's key ally Jatiya Party, and 16 other parties did not recommend any names.
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