Election reforms need of the hour

The government side had the view that "the flood of development" initiated by the current regime would take the ship to shore. The government-backed candidate, Mir Nasir, probably thought that success would be his if he took his cue from Dhaka-10. The election commission, vehemently criticized for its failure to ensure free and fair elections, especially in Rajshahi and Dhaka, seemed to take Chittagong as the last chance of proving its credibility as an institution. On the other hand, both foreign and domestic observers took it as a test case.

Personally, I was not surprised to see that Mohiuddin won the election for his third consecutive term. During the last two years or so, I had to visit Chittagong on a number of occasions. My impressions suggest that he has turned Chittagong into a clean city. Development works to beautify all areas of the port city speak to his efforts. With an investigative mind, I talked to different classes of people holding different political views, and thus could confirm his credit-worthiness in the eyes of the citizens of Chittagong. Thus, given a free and fair election, his win would be the obvious outcome.

Tap here to add The Daily Star as a trusted source

What, however, surprised me is the way the government waged a war against him to see its candidate, Mir Nasir, as the mayor of Chittagong. As many as 30 cabinet ministers, 50 MPs, and hundreds of top-ranking leaders thronged the port city to campaign for the candidate. Even the mayoral candidate, who is also in charge of a ministry, had to sacrifice his valuable time (and we suspect that he abstained from his duties without taking any official leave) in order to campaign. At the last leg, Mr Tareq Rahman, the BNP Joint Secretary General and son of Prime Minister Khaleda Zia also used his late father's name in an attempt to win over the hearts of the voters. The returning officer allegedly appointed some unqualified persons as polling officers and later had to withdraw some of them. A dozen ministers paraded through the polling areas at the time of the election with walkie-talkies in violation of the election code.

During the last three years or so, things have happened as the administration wanted, but not this time. Mohiuddin won by an unimaginable margin of 91,000 votes. According to Fatema, the cleaner who cleaned my hotel room: "The ministers only increased Mohiuddin's margin, as people do not like to see them. Who can steal the people's verdict if sufficient guard is guaranteed, sir?" My driver who took me to the airport and the shopkeeper from whom I bought cigarettes also echoed the same sentiment. Power lies with the people!

But conspiracy was there to foil the people's aspirations. Suddenly, the results of the election from different centers stopped flowing, thus creating a panic in Chittagong. Smelling the ominous sign, an estimated 100,000 people surrounded the office of the chief returning officer, stayed there the whole night, and forced him to make a declaration at dawn. I am also told that a few ministers managed to flee through the back doors upon seeing the sea of men and women chanting slogans for a fair declaration. I agree with eminent lawyer Dr Kamal Hossain when he remarked that the victory of Mohiuddin Chowdhury is a victory for the 140 million people of the country.

Does this victory of Mohiuddin mean that there is no need of reforms in the character of the caretaker government and of the election commission? The government side, especially Law Minister Moudud Ahmed, seems to hold the notion that the Chittagong election is a case that shows that elections could be neutral even with a party government in power. According to him, the victory of the opposition-backed candidate serves to put the reform issue on the back-burner.

But Mr Law Minister, what about the by-election in Dhaka-10 and the mayoral elections in Rajshahi and Dhaka? Another argument against the minister could be that in Chittagong rigging would have happened had people not awakened to guard against manipulations. The clear answer to all of this question is that no free and fair election is possible (nor was it possible) under the present government and the current election system.

I have always harboured serious doubts about the efficacy of the caretaker government since its inception, although I also know that both AL and BNP (with and without alliance) got to power under such a system. Under the system, the president of the country -- basically a man of the party in power -- holds the key to the whole system. That makes it partisan from the very beginning. The contradictions cropped up during the caretaker government headed by Justice Habibur Rahman. Abdur Rahman Biswas -- the then president elected by BNP -- made some attempts to align the administration in favour of BNP, but failed in the face of a personality like Habibur Rahman. Can one expect that a president, elected by a particular party, would like to see that his party should be out of power on account of his neutrality? Then comes the issue of raising the age limit of the chief justice with a view to positioning a loyalist to lead the upcoming caretaker government. We are convinced that the 13th amendment to the constitution was made by the then party in power to suit its own needs.

The Dhaka-10 by-election points to the pitiable position of the election commission in the face of interventions made by the party in power. In fact, Dhaka-10 is a clear case study of the failure of the election commission to ensure a free and fair election in this country. It is also a case where money and muscle dominated. In the pages of our history, the Magura and Dhaka-10 by-elections will go down as a black chapter.

Reforms in the election commission and the caretaker government are, therefore, a must to ensure a free and fair election in the country. Without that happening, we might witness the spectre of the Dhaka-10 by-election visiting us again and stealing the verdict of the people. All parties must sit together to work out a system that benefits all.

Our experience with the last general election is not good either. Even a caretaker government headed by Justice Latifur Rahman allegedly failed to ensure the voting rights of the minority community. Candidates belonging to the AL were intentionally harassed or assaulted during the time of the election. The then president and the head of the caretaker government failed to control the atrocities against the supporters of the AL and the minority community. In the backdrop of these conundrums, reforms in the election system should constitute the core concern in the upcoming days. Especially in a situation when the party in power is believed to have already set the stage for the pawns to play the game for them.

Abdul Bayes is a Professor of Economics at Jahangirnagar University.