Polls expenditure to go up, parties to get more donations as cabinet okays changes to RPO
The government yesterday approved a set of proposals for bringing changes in the Representation of the People Order, but ignored a few others that the Election Commission proposed for having more clouts to conduct general election.
The approved proposals include increasing the ceiling of candidates’ election expenses and their security deposits and donations for political parties, according to a copy of the proposals that the law ministry prepared for yesterday’s cabinet meeting.
The cabinet, however, didn’t decide on the proposal for lessening the punishment for election offences. The EC made the proposal so that executive magistrates, alongside judicial magistrates, could hold trial for electoral offences.
Some of EC’s proposals were not placed before the cabinet, as the law ministry didn’t include them in the draft bill for amending the RPO.
Before the preparation of the draft bill, the law minister held meetings with two advisers to the prime minister and some senior Awami League leaders to examine the EC’s proposals for electoral reforms ahead of the general election, according to media reports.
The commission’s proposal for awarding punishment to individuals for furnishing false information or concealing any information in the nomination paper or in the affidavit was excluded from the draft bill.
The EC had proposed that an individual would be disqualified for contesting the parliamentary polls for such offence.
The proposal for introducing electronic voting machines in the polls also didn’t find its place in the draft bill.
The EC also suggested a provision for punishing individuals and government officials for negligence in duties assigned by the commission or for their refusal to assist it. And the offender would be sentenced up to three years’ imprisonment or fined Tk 50,000 or both.
But this proposal too was ignored.
The law ministry also didn’t consider another proposal from the EC that sought the power to monitor candidates’ election expenses during electioneering. The EC had also sought the authority to devise its method of monitoring.
Asked about the discarded proposals, including the one for introducing EVM, Cabinet Secretary Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan told The Daily Star that no such proposal was placed before the cabinet.
The cabinet, however, approved a proposal for empowering the EC to transfer any government official during the polls.
According to the proposal, the EC may make request for transferring any government officials or employees in the interest of a fair election. And such transfer would take effect as soon as the authorities concerned receive a written request from the EC.
The cabinet also gave nod to proposals that said countrywide campaign expenses of a party’s chief would not be included in the party’s expenditure and polling agents of candidates must be a voter of the respective constituency.
The Legislative and Parliament Division of the law ministry placed the proposals at the weekly cabinet meeting yesterday with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the chair.
“The RPO has been amended from time to time. There was a need to amend it again. The cabinet considered the amendment proposals and gave final approval to the amendments after a discussion,” the cabinet secretary told journalists after the meeting.
He said the EC had put forward some amendments to the RPO, a legal framework for conducting parliamentary election.
Mosharraf said the proposed changes, upon vetting by the law ministry, would be placed as a bill in parliament for passage.
On the withdrawal of candidature, the cabinet secretary said the proposed amendment to the law clearly stated that candidature may be withdrawn by the candidate or the party.
Replying to a query on whether a person can contest election while staying in an office of profit, he said, “It has been spelled out in the constitution. There is no need to state it in the draft law.”
The cabinet also approved the draft of “Multi-Level Marketing Programme (control) Bill, 2013” to turn the existing ordinance into a law by placing it in the current parliament session.
Mosharraf said the law would help control MLM activities and ease hassles and sufferings of people.
Source: The Daily Star
