EC formation Bill placed in JS
Law Minister Anisul Haq placed draft law and it was sent to the scrutiny committee for further examination. The committee was asked to submit its report within 7 days, reports UNB.
As per the proposed law, a search committee will be formed taking approval from the President over the constitution of the Election Commission.
The search committee will recommend the names of suitable candidates before the President to appoint the CEC and other election commissioners,” the Bill says.
The move came just one month before the expiry of five-year tenure of incumbent Election Commission, led by CEC KM Nurul Huda, as it is going to complete its five-year term in mid-February.
Qualifications
Qualifications of CEC and election commissioners are: they must be Bangladeshi citizens with minimum 50 years of age, and have at least 20 years of work experience in important government, semi-government, private or judicial posts.
If a person is declared ‘insane’ by any court; has not been released from the jail after being declared as ‘bankruptcy’; acquires the citizenship of or affirms the allegiance to, a foreign country surrendering Bangladeshi citizenship; has been convicted for a criminal offence involving moral turpitude and sentenced to at least two-year imprisonment; convicted by international crime tribunal; and is disqualified for such posts by or under any law, he or she would not be eligible for the post of CEC and election commissioners.
Ineligibilities
A person once held the post of CEC or the Chief Justice, he or she would not be eligible for the post of the CEC. But if a person held the post of election commissioner, he or she might be considered for appointment to the CEC.
In order to give legal protection to the constitution of previous election commissions, it would be considered that these were made under this law, he said.
A justice of the Appellate Division, nominated by the Chief Justice, will be the head of the six-member search committee.
The five other members will be a justice of the High Court Division nominated by the Chief Justice, the Comptroller and Auditor General, the Chairman of the Bangladesh Public Service Commission, two other personalities nominated by the President.
