Bangladesh
CEC Govt has not changed our proposal in RPO: CEC
Dhaka, July 11: Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Kazi Habibul Awal said that the government and parliament have not made any changes to our proposal in the Representation of the People Order (RPO). The CEC gave this information at a press conference organized to inform the Election Commission on the amendment of the RPO at the Agargaon election building in the capital on Monday.
He said that the Election Commission has got the power to cancel the polls and stop the publication of gazettes in some of the centers concerned after investigating the allegations of irregularities. The proposals that can be made in the RPO are sent to the Law Ministry 11 months in advance. After going through quite a lot of ups and downs, it was approved by the Cabinet. It has not changed a bit. The EC has taken the view, particularly on 91(AA) we said (on account of irregularity) the provision of (cancellation) of any polling center or entire constituency. Our opinion calls for cancellation of the affected centres, where affected. We agree, it makes sense. This is a whole new phase.
The CEC pointed out that the Commission has not proposed any change in 91(a) of the RPO and no change has been made.
CEC said that no change has been brought here by the government or parliament. Since then it has been passed in the form of a bill, it has been gazetted in the form of a law. There have been various statements about the law in the last few months. It can confuse people. All the explanations and comments that have come are not correct. That is why we want to clarify on behalf of the EC.
He said that the commission has kicked itself in the foot without understanding. After publication of the Gazette seeking the power to annul the election, Article 91(A) was said to have been amended. The government has amended the law for its own benefit. These need to be explained. The government has revised the RPO as per our suggestion. The EC sought amendments to make its position more coherent, stronger, and the government agreed. Parliament agreed. This has increased our power. Actually it didn't, nothing changed. 91 (AA) new section inserted. Any change in Section 91 (A) would have altered our powers. Nothing was done there. This is a very important clause - where we can cancel any one, two centers or all constituencies during the polling period. That power is exactly the same as before.
