EC mulling changes in draft proposal

The Election Commission may retreat from its draft proposal seeking that the government must consult the commission about posting and transfer of any civil servant of any ministry during the parliamentary elections to keep the polls free from influence.
The EC is mulling over some changes in the proposal as some senior officials of the EC Secretariat strongly opposed it at a meeting yesterday, reasoning that it would overburden the commission and hamper its main task of conducting elections, said meeting sources.
Against this backdrop, the EC asked the officials to identify the ministries which play direct role in holding parliamentary polls and recommend that only those ministries should consult the commission before posting and promoting any of their officials. The commission then may redraft the proposal accordingly.
Election Commissioner Shah Nawaz yesterday said, “We adjourned the meeting today [yesterday]. We will sit again to finalise the proposals for electoral reforms.”
About the election-time consultation, the EC had earlier drafted a proposal to bring changes to the Representation of the People Order (RPO).
The previous EC headed by ATM Shamsul Huda sent a set of proposals to the government in February last year. It proposed making it mandatory for the Cabinet Division and the ministries of LGRD, public administration, and home affairs to consult the commission before making any election-related decisions.
The law ministry sent back the proposal to the incumbent EC constituted in February last year for opinions. Since then, the current EC led by Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmad has been discussing and re-drafting the proposal and reviewing the existing laws and proposals of the previous commission.
The existing RPO says the metropolitan police commissioner, deputy commissioner, superintendent of police or officers subordinate to them serving in a district shall not be transferred without consultation with the EC.