Bangladesh

Cabinet approves draft law on appointment of Election Commissioner Election Commission
PID Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina presided over the cabinet meeting held in the National Assembly on Monday

Cabinet approves draft law on appointment of Election Commissioner

Bangladesh Live News | @banglalivenews | 17 Jan 2022, 11:13 pm

Dhaka, January 17: The Cabinet has given final approval to the draft of 'Chief Election Commissioner and Election Commissioner Appointment Act 2022'. The approval was given at a cabinet meeting held in the National Assembly on Monday (January 17).

Cabinet Secretary Khandaker Anwarul Islam said this at a briefing at the Secretariat after the meeting. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina presided over the cabinet meeting held in the National Assembly. He said that there is a provision in Article 118 (1) of the Constitution that the President can appoint the Chief Election Commissioner and the Election Commissioners. In this context, the law has been brought.

"It's not a big law," he said. "An inquiry committee will be formed to make recommendations to the President for the appointment of Chief Election Commissioner and Election Commissioner. The inquiry committee will be in the same way as in other laws. The search committee will recommend the names of eligible candidates."

The Cabinet Secretary also said that it has been mentioned in the draft law who can and cannot be the Chief Election Commissioner and Election Commissioner.

He said that in case of qualification, it has been said that he has to be a citizen of Bangladesh. Must be at least 50 years of age. Must have at least 20 years of work experience in any important government, semi-government or private or judicial position. Then someone can be the Chief Election Commissioner or Election Commissioner.

Disqualification is defined as a person who is declared ineligible by a court of law, fails to recover from bankruptcy after declaring bankruptcy, acquires citizenship of another country, or declares allegiance to a foreign country, moral turpitude, and at least two years in prison for a criminal offense. Convicted, if convicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), will not be able to be the chief election commissioner or commissioner if he is in a state position, said the cabinet secretary.

Asked if the next election commission will be under this law, he said, "If it happens, then it will happen."

Asked about the removal of the Chief Election Commissioner and Election Commissioners in case of violation of the law, Khandaker Anwarul said, "As far as I can remember, the same procedure will be followed as the removal of Supreme Court judges. The rest will probably be mentioned in the rules."