Registration of political parties

Definition of political party
According to Article 152 of the constitution of Bangladesh, political party includes a group or combination of persons who operate within or outside parliament under a distinctive name and who hold themselves out for the purpose of propagating a political opinion or engaging in any other political activity. The Political Parties Act, 1962 (of the then Pakistan) defined political party as a body of individuals or an association of persons setting up an organisational structure or collecting funds or owning property with the object of propagating political opinions or indulging in any other political activity. It appears from the above that the characteristics of a political party include, inter alia, (a) forming a group of persons who hold a common view about the problems of society, (b) propagating a political opinion that is different from the opinion(s) of other political parties or engaging in any other political activity, (c) having an orgnisational structure for promoting and furthering its political ideals, and (d) owning funds or properties.

Why political parties are formed
A democratic system cannot function in a country without political parties. Different political parties may have different political and ideological opinions. One political party may believe in secularism as one of the fundamental principles of the state policy; another party may believe in religion-based politics; still another party may like to follow a middle path. One political party may be a supporter of a socialistic economy; another may like a capitalistic economy; and there may be another which likes a mixed economy. However, the ultimate objective of a political party is to secure and maintain for its leaders the control of the government to materialise its political, economic, and other programmes. Furthermore, through such control, material and other benefits are given to the members of the party. Critics of political party systems, who are disgusted with human frailty, are of the view that parties are nothing but corrupt and selfish machines, productive of nothing but disunity, ignore reality, and perform a disservice to free government. Corruption and patronage is not peculiar to party government. In spite of all such criticisms, the existence of political parties is the sine qua non for functioning of multi-party democracy.

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Legal provision for registration of political parties
The Representation of the People Order, 1972 (President's Order No. 155 of 1972) made on December 26, 1972 did not contain any provision regarding registration of political parties. Representation of the People (Amendment) Ordinance, 2001 promulgated during the period of non-party caretaker government further amending Representation of the People Order, 1972 made provision for the registration of political parties with the EC. But it has not made the registration mandatory for a political party. It is optional. The salient features of the provision are:

• A political party intending to register itself with the EC shall submit an application signed by its president or secretary or persons holding equivalent status in the party to the secretary to the EC.
• The application shall contain particulars, namely (a) the name of the political party and its abbreviation or short name, if any; (b) the address of its head office, name of point of contact, telephone number and fax number; (c) the names of its office-bearers; (d) the total number of its members on the date of application; (e) the names of its affiliated or associated bodies, if any, and the address of the head of each of them; (f) the number of members in parliament, if any, elected on its nomination; (g) the number of members in the past two parliaments, if any, elected on its nomination; (h) the total votes cast in favour of all its candidates in each of the past two parliamentary elections; (i) the names and numbers of its local units at different levels, if any.
• The application shall be accompanied by a copy of the constitution of the party, which shall contain a specific provision to the effect that the party shall bear true faith and allegiance to the constitution of Bangladesh and it shall uphold the sovereignty, unity and integrity of Bangladesh.
• After considering the application and giving the applicant a reasonable opportunity of being heard, the EC may either register the applicant as a political party or reject the application.
• The registration of a political shall stand cancelled on its dissolution or amalgamation with any other political party.
• A registered political party shall be entitled to (a) one of the prescribed symbols for all the candidates set up by it in any general election to parliament; (b) one set of electoral rolls at half of cost; (c) broadcasting and telecasting facilities in the state-owned media during the general election to parliament; (d) be consulted by the EC in respect of any matter relating to the general election to parliament.

Political parties registered
Information available from the EC reveals that so far only six political parties have registered themselves with the EC: Jatiya Party (Ershad), Jatiya Party (Monju), Jatiya Party (Naziur), Bangladesh Krishak Sramik Awami League (BAKSAL), Bangladesh Islami Front (Jalil), and Bangladesh Khelafat Andolon (BKA). This shows that the two major political parties, namely the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and the Awami League (AL), and some other political parties having representation in the current parliament such as Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh and Bangladesh Krishak Sramik Janata League have not registered themselves with the EC. Applications of thirty-five political parties are under scrutiny in the EC. Available information suggests that no major political party is in the list of the thirty-five applicants.

Why political parties are not interested in registration
First, the major political parties do not want to disclose certain information relating to their parties through registration with the EC. On the other hand, it is an embarrassment for the small and "names only" parties, as they have no information to furnish on certain sensitive points.

Second, th the country in succession since 1991 do not consider it necessary to register with the EC. In other words, they consider themselves above the requirement of registration.

Third, opportunism is pervasive in the political arena. The "names only" political parties may find it advantageous to be amalgamated with another like-minded party at an opportune moment. So, they are not interested to get registered with the EC.

Fourth, the law provides that a registered political party shall be entitled to be consulted by the EC in respect of any matter relating to the general election to parliament. But in practice, this and other privileges mentioned in the law are being allowed to all the political parties, registered with the EC or not. Unless the political parties that are not registered with the EC are denied the privileges mentioned in the law, they will not feel the necessity of registration.

Fifth, since early nineties, the ruling party/parties and the main opposition have been busy in confrontational politics. They have hardly paid any attention towards institutionalising democracy in the country. They have not yet realised that registration of political parties can help grow the nascent democracy in the country to a considerable extent.

Last but not the least, the law has not made the registration of the political parties mandatory. So, they are not giving any importance to it.

To conclude, unless and until the registration of political parties with the EC is made mandatory, the list of political parties may continue to swell which, according to many, may not be conducive to the successful functioning of parliamentary democracy in the country. The Daily Star in its editorial of July 28 wrote: "The proliferation of parties, however, does shine a spotlight, on one glaring problem in the Bangladeshi body politic. It remains a rich irony that while even the smallest of shops or business is required to be licensed and registered, that there exists no law requiring the registration of political parties and no statute regulating them. It can be argued that the very political parties that rule the country (now and in the past) have no real legal standing whatsoever to do so."

M. Abdul Latif Mondal is a former Secretary to the Government.