In search of a fair election commission

--Ziauddin Choudhury

In a few weeks the country will have a new election commission with a new chief
who will have the not too envious task of holding another general election in less
than two years. We all know the history and travails of those who held these offices
in the past, in particular the last ten years. The job of the election commission and
of its chief in particular, is laden with great peril in our country where the office
holder is eyed with suspicion of colluding with the powers that be even though the
office is assumed to be above any political bias. In fact, the plague of political bias
has haunted several of past commissions though neither the head of the
commission nor its members had any open or known political leaning. This
happened because the office holders were appointees of the government in power
that time, and therefore, the opponents of the government assumed that the
appointees were politically blessed by the party in power. This assumption would
lead to other conclusions on apprehensions of unfair elections and lack of trust in
the august body. Was this a fair apprehension?
The Election Commission in Bangladesh, like such other institutions in the
neighboring countries, is a constitutionally upheld institution that has the supreme
trust of holding and ensuring free and fair election to various elected offices
including President, Members of Parliament, and other local government officials.
The constitution confers on this institution this paramount role to allow all citizens
to elect their representatives in a free and fair manner. This is why countries that
have such institutions want them to be free from any political bias, and immune to
political pressure either from the government or from other participants in the
election process. The independence of the commission and its arms length
relationship with the government in conduct of elections provide the citizenry the
necessary confidence in the fairness of elections. When the people find the process
fair, they also view the results to be fair. There are no fights over the election
results because the institution that conducted the elections was itself fair and above
reproach.

Unfortunately, our experience with holding free and fair elections has been rather
dubious and murky despite our constitutionally mandated obligation to do so with
an independent institution. This has happened not so much because we did not
have right people to hold the elections in a free and fair manner, but because we
lacked the mindset at political level to operate a truly impartial body.
The people who ran the election commissions in Bangladesh came from
distinguished professions in the country and comprised people held in high esteem.
They were selected because of their proven capabilities in the areas they worked
and for their assumed political neutrality. But as their selection process was not
always transparent, their appointments have often led to suspicion by the
opposition parties of their political neutrality. These suspicions resulted in the
oppositions lack of trust in the commission to hold fair elections including boycott
of the elections in many cases. We have witnessed some dire results of such
boycott in last several years. The Election commission has been ineffective in
stemming these negative perceptions.
Neutrality of an institution in a politically charged environment is difficult, and it is
impossible where an institution is expected to deliver the wishes of the authority it
serves. A bureaucracy that serves its master cannot work against it. But a
constitutionally instituted agency to conduct free and fair elections should not be a
part of bureaucracy, and it should not operate that way. Unfortunately, a large part
of the ineffectiveness of the Election Commission emanates from a public
perception of the Commission as being part of the government bureaucracy.
There are several factors that have contributed to this perception of weakness in the
Election Commission. First is the historic unwillingness of our political leaders to
agree on forming and preserving a truly neutral Election Commission. Second, as
stated earlier, is the opaque and non-consultative selection process of the members
of the commission. Last but not the least is guarantee of protection of
independence of the commission and its members by the government in its conduct
of elections.
A politically neutral and impartial institution cannot grow without support and
active help of the government. The Election Commission is independent to the
extent it gets government support. But to be fully effective it also needs to have

support and cooperation of the political parties that are active in the election
process. The Government may make all efforts to install a new commission, and
may put forward some of the best names to run the institution. They all could be
free from any political bias, but they will still find themselves to be operating in a
cage unless the government that installs them also empowers them to operate an
institution that is free from political pressures.