Report on EC bill placed in JS
After scrutiny, the parliamentary standing committee on the law ministry submitted its report on the "Appointment of the Chief Election Commissioner and Election Commissioners Bill-2022" in parliament yesterday.
It proposed changes in the bill including over the criteria for appointment of the CEC and other commissioners.
The bill is set to be passed today.
Shahiduzzaman Sarker, chairman of the JS committee, placed the report.
The committee changed Section 6 (gha) of the bill where it was mentioned that any person convicted for a criminal offence involving moral turpitude and sentenced to at least two years' imprisonment would not be eligible for the post of CEC and election commissioners.
It removed the two-year term from the bill, saying in the report that a person convicted in a criminal offence of moral turpitude for any term shall not be eligible to be appointed as CEC or election commissioner.
The same section of the bill said a person should have at least 20 years' working experience in any important government, judicial, semi-government or private post.
The parliamentary standing committee recommended to amend this to add "autonomous and other professions" to the posts already mentioned in the bill.
If the law is passed with this amendment, people from various professional bodies -- autonomous and other professions -- will be eligible for the posts.
Law Minister Anisul Huq placed the bill in parliament on January 23 seeking to give a legal shield to the current and previous Election Commissions formed through search committees.
The bill was later sent to the parliamentary standing committee on the law ministry for scrutiny.
Once passed, the law will provide legal cover to all activities of the search committees.
The tenure of the incumbent commission, led by CEC KM Nurul Huda, expires on February 14.
Ahead of the general elections in 2014 and 2018, the president picked CECs and other commissioners in 2012 and 2017 following recommendations by search committees.
The government move came nearly 50 years after the constitution prescribed enacting a specific law for forming the EC.
The bill says the previous search committees, their functions and the appointments of the CECs and other commissioners made following their recommendations will be deemed valid, and no question can be raised in any court over the matter.
It will be considered that the incumbent and previous ECs were constituted as per the law.
In the bill, the previous two search committees have been given legal validity.
Although the constitution suggests that the CEC and other election commissioners be appointed under a law, that law was not formulated in the past.
The president had appointed the CEC and commissioners in the absence of the law.
The last two election commissions, headed by Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmed and KM Nurul Huda, were constituted through search committees formed by the president following dialogues with political parties.
The president picked the CEC and four election commissioners in 2012 and 2017 from the names suggested by the search committee.
This time too, President Abdul Hamid started a dialogue with registered political parties on December 20 last year to discuss issues related to the constitution of the Election Commission ahead of the 12th general election to be held at the end of 2023 or early 2024.