Bangladesh's poll chief places reforms proposals

Dhaka, Apr 6: Bangladesh's Election Commission has given a set of proposed electoral rules to leaders of political parties to discuss ahead of long-delayed polls.

Chief Election Commissioner ATM Shamsul Huda issued the proposals late yesterday.

The proposals include mandatory registration for political parties and any party intending to be registered must have a seat in parliament or must have polled two per cent of total votes in the previous election.

''These are most logical proposals and we are confident that the leaders will accept it unanimously,'' Huda told reporters.

''The discussion with political parties will start when the government lifts a ban on indoor politics.'' He was referring to a ban on indoor political meetings. On Thursday he also called for a lifting of a ban on allowing limited party activity.

Parliamentary elections planned for January 22 were postponed indefinitely after the government had imposed a state of emergency on January 11 following weeks of violence.

But at a news conference yesterday, Huda said the election was unlikely to be held soon as it would take at least 18 months to prepare a legitimate list of eligible voters.

The proposals say a candidate will not be allowed to contest in more than three constituencies simultaneously. If elected in all the three constituencies, the candidate will retain one and vacate the others for re-election.

Previous rules allowed a candidate to contest five constituencies.

The election commission said anyone defaulting on a bank loan for a year and utility bills for three months would not be allowed to contest polls.

Retired military and government officials would have to wait for three years before contesting an election after registering their membership with a political party.

Incumbent city mayors would not be allowed to contest elections and political parties would not be allowed to collect funds from other countries, according to the proposals.

The interim government said it would hold a credible election after completing electoral reforms and ending corruption.

Since January, security forces have detained more than 160 political figures including Tareque Rahman, son of most the recent prime minister, Begum Khaleda Zia, for alleged graft and abuse of power.

Reuters

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