Not an order but a ‘humble request’
Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Habibul Awal yesterday apparently changed his tune about the step the Election Commission took against ruling Awami League lawmaker AKM Bahauddin Bahar ahead of the Cumilla City Corporation polls.
He said the commission did not order the lawmaker to leave the electoral area but made a humble request.
"We are frequently hearing that he [Bahar] was ordered by the Election Commission to leave the area. But we have thoroughly checked and found the MP was never ordered to leave the area by the Election Commission," he said in a press conference.
"We haven't seen him participate in the campaign in public. But some said he took part in the electioneering tactfully. We had an expectation that if we requested him, there would be no more debate on the matter."
The CEC said according to the electoral code of conduct, Bahar is a very important person who enjoys government privileges and he is not allowed to join any polls campaign.
The Election Commission can't even order a common man to leave an area, let alone a member of parliament, he added. "We also did not order Bahauddin Bahar to leave the area. We humbly requested him. However, words got spread that the MP did not comply with the Election Commission's order to leave the city. That's not entirely true."
On June 8, the Election Commission issued a letter to Bahar, asking him to leave the electoral area as it found that the MP was taking part in electioneering of ruling party candidate Arfanul Haque Rifat.
It became a hot topic of discussion as Bahar did not comply with the EC directive.
The letter also read, "The commission humbly requests Bahar to leave the electoral area to cooperate with the commission in compliance with the electoral code of conduct."
On June 12, the CEC said the Election Commission cannot do anything against a lawmaker if he "dishonours" its directives.
He came up with the remark when journalists drew his attention to Bahar not leaving the area.
"We have sent a letter asking him to leave the area .... If he doesn't honour it, we don't have anything to do," the CEC said, adding, "We have come to know that he [the lawmaker] has filed a case against the directive."
On June 15, the election day, Bahar said the letter was beyond the jurisdiction of EC.
"For a member of parliament, the instruction cannot be given this way. Also, the letter is unfinished. There is no complete explanation of the law in the letter. So, we need to talk about the law in parliament. We will amend the law, InshAllah," he said.
A few hours later, when asked about Bahar's comment made on the election day, CEC Awal told journalists, "We have discussed it a lot, and now the election is over…. The matter is closed; I will not make any further comment."
At yesterday's press conference, he said, "We can say a lot of things mistakenly. The last sentence [of the letter] says he [ the lawmaker] is humbly requested. You need to understand the difference between the request and the order."
About the issue, former election commissioner Brig Gen (retd) Sakhawat Hussain told this newspaper, "When the Election Commission makes a request, it is actually an order. They use this language out of politeness".
According to election expert Badiul Alam Majumder, secretary of Shushashoner Jonno Nagorik (Shujan), the EC issued a notice under section 22 of the code of conduct asking the MP to leave the area, with which he failed to comply.
The CEC then said the commission could not do anything further about it, though section 31 and 32 of the code of conduct clearly specify penalties for such violation, including imposition of fines, jail sentence and even cancelling the candidature of the candidate supported by the MP, he said.
"Consequently, the CEC and the other commissioners failed to faithfully discharge the duties of office according to the law. It is painful to see that by today's [yesterday's] statement, the CEC is further demeaning this important constitutional body."
He added, "The CEC said they did not order the lawmaker but made a request -- what is the difference? His comments are misguiding. Are they trying to make someone happy? we don't understand this."
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