Are women’s reserved seats in parliament only tokens?
7 March 2024
Does our present reservation system really promote the empowerment of women politicians?
7 March 2024
Turn candidates' halafnama into amalnama
22 December 2023
It is heartening to see that the media has been preparing statements based on the information in affidavits submitted by the candidates who are running for parliament.
22 December 2023
Another managed election will be disastrous
2 December 2023
Continued denial of voting and other political and democratic rights is bound to become a very serious threat in the future.
2 December 2023
Opinion / We are heading towards another one-sided election
21 November 2023
Voters will be deprived of the opportunity to choose from worthy candidates in a one-sided election.
21 November 2023
The Election Commission’s credibility problem
22 October 2023
A number of controversial decisions, actions and statements of the EC itself has put it in this situation.
22 October 2023
How constitutional is the 15th amendment?
14 October 2023
It is clear that the 15th Amendment was neither legitimate nor constitutional, as no referendum was held before its passage.
14 October 2023
Barishal, Khulna city polls exposed what's wrong with our elections
20 June 2023
The elections to Barishal and Khulna city corporations held on May 12, 2023 cannot be considered free, fair and credible, as they were non-competitive.
20 June 2023
What will it take for our next election to be credible and acceptable to all?
7 May 2023
It must be recognised that the election is not a one-day phenomenon – it is a process involving multiple interrelated steps
7 May 2023
Can the CEC take unilateral decisions?
On July 16, 2017, the Election Commission (EC) arranged a news conference to announce its electoral roadmap.
27 July 2017
Budget without a basis
Our finance minister has proposed a mega budget of Tk 4,00,266 crore for FY2017-18, of which Tk 1,53,331 crore is earmarked for Annual Development Programme (ADP).
18 June 2017
Who is misleading whom?
The EC has been under fire after two phases of UP elections were marred by widespread irregularities and violence.
20 April 2016
Historic judgment will break the culture of secrecy
According to the Political Party Registration Rules 2008, registered political parties must submit their audited financial statements to
8 April 2016
Flawed elections will damage our democracy
ALMOSt all the preparatory steps for the first round of UP elections are now over – the only thing that is still left is the actual polling on
20 March 2016
How fair were the Paura Elections?
Recently, elections were held in 235 Paurashavas around the country. In this first time ever party-based elections, Awami League won 182 mayoral seats..
26 January 2016
Who are the candidates in the municipal elections?
There are serious allegations of hiding information or disclosing inaccurate information by candidates in their affidavits. It is therefore important for the EC to take the necessary steps in the future to verify the accuracy of the disclosed information.
27 December 2015
What is the rationale of partisan local government elections?
The cabinet has recently decided in principle to allow the use of party symbols in local elections. This, we are afraid, is a dangerous decision, which could unravel what is left of our democratic system after the much controversial election of January 5, 2014.
17 October 2015
Goals to transform the world
On September 25, 2015, world leaders adopted a resolution entitled 'Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development'. The agenda is a “comprehensive, far-reaching and people-centred set of universal and transformative goals and targets” – now referred to as the Global Goals.
29 September 2015
ECNEC decision will make lawmakers lawbreakers
On July 7, 2015, ECNEC approved the Rural Insfrastructure-2 project, designed to allocate Tk. 6,076 crore to 284 MPs. Under this project, each MP will be allowed to develop infrastructure projects worth Tk. 20 crore, which will be implemented by the Local Government Engineering Department (LGED).
24 July 2015
Gender-gap in electoral roll and some additional questions
A credible electoral roll is a prerequisite for free and fair elections, and the allegation of 1.25 crore fake voters in our electoral roll was
11 July 2015
BNP's 'demise' and possible consequences
Begum Zia will now have to take on the responsibility of transforming BNP into a truly democratic, secular and dynamic political party. She will have to renounce dynastic politics and empower honest and committed leaders.
30 June 2015
Dream budget's potential nightmarish consequences
The finance minister has presented a 'dream budget' with a proposed outlay of Tk. 2,95,100 crore for FY 2015-16, of which the size of
20 June 2015
Anomalies in the Chittagong City Corporation elections
Thanks to media reports, most voters knew the mayoral candidates and could decide whom they would vote for before getting to the polling booths.
9 June 2015
Corruption, controversial elections and violent extremism
CORRUPTION – the use of public office for private gains – benefits a powerful few while imposing serious costs on large swathes of society.
7 April 2015
Which way to social harmony?
The cycle of violence that began on January 5 is still continuing. So far over 120 people have died, 66 of them by petrol bomb. Killing
14 March 2015