EC backtracks on RPO reform

Following criticism from different quarters, the Election Commission has made a U-turn on its plan to revise the Representation of the People Order (RPO), 1972.

Several important provisions that empower the EC to cancel the candidature of candidates and announce election schedule were absent in the proposed revised RPO.

The EC has also backtracked from its decisions to change the name of the RPO and give Bangla names to different local government bodies and their associated positions.

The commission during a meeting on Monday approved the draft of the Local Government Election Conducting Act 2020 without any provision for changing the names, said EC Senior Secretary Md Alamgir.

"We will keep traditional names of local government bodies and the associated positions," he said.

When asked why they shelved their earlier decision, Alamgir said changing the names was a proposal. "Changes can be brought to a proposed law until it is passed by the parliament," he said.

Alamgir said the draft of the law would be uploaded to the website of the EC soliciting opinions of all stakeholders before it is sent to the law ministry for vetting.

The new law will be a comprehensive law to conduct local government elections, he said.

Currently, there are five separate laws to hold different local government elections.

In the draft version of the law, the EC proposed renaming city corporation to 'mahanagar sabha', pourosabha to 'nagarsabha', union parishad to 'palli parishad' and ward to 'mahalla'.

It also proposed renaming city corporation mayor to 'mahanagar sabha adhikarik' or 'mahanagarpati', councillor to 'sadasya', among others.

While answering queries of reporters, Alamgir also said they would not bring changes to any fundamental issue of RPO 1972.

"We will not cut the power of the EC in any way," he said.

Earlier, the EC sent a proposal to the law ministry to change the name of Representation of the People Order 1972 into 'Representation of the People Act 2020'.

Law ministry sent back the draft law with some observations and the EC is working to fix the issues, according to Alamgir.

Election Commissioner Rafiqul Islam said there was no scope to cut EC's power.

"There is a misunderstanding. Election Commission secretariat thought that some issues should be kept in rule instead of the law", he said.

"But I think all these provisions should be incorporated in the law", he said.

According to Rafiqul, EC would not change the title of RPO 1972 as the government has decided not to formulate new laws scrapping the old ones either enacted or promulgated during the tenure of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

Many were criticising EC's move to bring change in RPO and local government names.

In a "note of dissent", Election Commissioner Mahbub Talukdar on August 24 differed with the EC's move to revise the RPO 1972, and the election-related laws of local government bodies.

Mahbub said if the order was revised without incorporating a provision that empowers the EC to cancel the candidature of candidates, the commission would turn into a "cat", let alone a "toothless tiger".

"The name of the law [RPO, 1972] is a historically important document, and unique memorabilia of the country's independence".

"EC does not have any jurisdiction to change the names of local government bodies and the positions within them," he said.

Transparency International Bangladesh in a statement on August 27 criticised the EC for making the move to amend RPO without the provision that empowers the EC to cancel the candidature of candidates. It terms the move as "suicidal".

It also said changing names of the local government bodies was beyond EC's jurisdiction.