Eminent citizens of the country made various suggestions for the formation of the Election Commission.
They also suggested that the EC must be formed with the personnel, who are pro-liberation forces and believe in the Great War of Liberation.
They made these suggestions on Sunday and Saturday while meeting with the ‘Search Committee’ formed for the reformation of the EC tasked with holding the next general election.
More than 45 eminent citizens held three separate meetings with the Search Committee. Emerging form the meeting, noted educationist Muhammed Zafar Iqbal said, "I told the search committee to pick candidates who will remain accountable to their conscience".
Ekattorer Ghatak Dalal Nirmul Committee President Shahriar Kabir said he suggested 10 names to the committee, including those of women and members from the minority communities. He also suggested the panel look for courageous and honest people, instead of only neutral people.
Former election commissioner Brig Gen (retd) M Sakhawat Hossain said, "Our election process and Election Commission have been destroyed. We need courageous people who can earn people's trust and can hold a free, fair and acceptable election."
He also said the search panel should reveal its final picks before sending the nominations to the president.
Economist Dr Qazi Kholiquzzaman Ahmad, also the chairman of Dhaka School of Economics, said, “We hope, whose names would be proposed, they would work as per the laws and the constitution of the state.
“We want, they would also be honest, brave and free from corruptions”, he added. Sushasoner Jonno Nagorik secretary Badiul Alam Majumdar said that he suggested the committee to the public all the names as per party proposals.
‘It will help people know how the ruling party pushes their choice through allies,’ he said, adding that all names should be made public for ensuring transparency as there was nothing to hide. ‘Make a final list of 10 people, including at least three women… publish the final list as a public notice three days before sending it to the president,’ he added.
They also said that they urged the committee to pick pro-liberation war people for the posts.
The five-year tenure of the incumbent EC will end on February 14. On February 5, the president formed the six-member search committee headed by Justice Obaidul Hassan.
Other members of the committee are High Court judge Justice SM Kuddus Zaman, former election commissioner Muhammed Sohul Hossain, writer Anowara Syed Haque, comptroller and auditor general of Bangladesh Mohammad Muslim Chowdhury and Bangladesh Public Service Commission chair Mohammed Sohrab Hossain.
As per the newly enacted law on forming the Election Commission, a six-member search committee is to submit 10 names for the EC to the president within 15 days of the formation of the committee.They are to propose two names each for all the vacant posts in the commission, which, as per the constitution, consists of a chief election commissioner and a maximum of four election commissioners.