The Election Commission (EC) is going to recommend to the government a set of electoral reforms that are above political debate and could be implemented without delay, but will not require political consensus, said Election Commissioner Abul Fazal Md Sanaullah.
“We’ve finalised the recommendations that could be implemented immediately. We will send them today,” he briefed reporters after a commission meeting in Dhaka on Wednesday.
The meeting was held with Chief Election Commissioner AMM Nasir Uddin in the chair, with all four election commissioners and the EC senior secretary were present.
Sanaullah explained that the EC categorised the reform proposals into three types – those that can be implemented immediately without political consensus, those that need political agreement, and those relating to rules that the EC can amend on its own.
He remarked the government had earlier asked the commission to propose reforms that are eligible for immediate implementation and that at this stage, the commission is not commenting on proposals that require political consensus.
“There are also reforms under the EC’s jurisdiction, such as amendments to rules, which we can implement by ourselves,” he added.
EC Secretary Akhtar Ahmed said the commission finalised some 10-12 reform proposals that do not require political consensus and financial funds.
For example, the suggestion to include a watermark on ballot papers has financial involvement. “So, we do not consider it ready for immediate implementation,” Akhtar said explained.