Election reform commission chief Badiul Alam Majumdar on Wednesday said that it would take the opinion of all the stakeholders, including political parties, in the process of making their proposals for reforming the country鈥檚 electoral system.
鈥楨arlier we were speakers, now we are listeners. You will say and we will listen. We will listen to your new thoughts. This commission of ours is Election System Reform Commission. We have eight members, one yet to be determined,鈥� Majumdar said after holding its first meeting at the Election Commission headquarters Nirbachan Bhaban in the capital.
鈥榃e will review all laws and regulations related to elections to make sure they help in holding fair elections. We want to start anew. We have also told the officials and employees here [EC] that what happened in the past is the past. We will build a new relationship, a relationship of cooperation so that together we can pave the way for an election that we can be proud of,鈥� he said.
Responding to a question, he said that they would ask the opinions of the political parties and take their proposals.
鈥榃e will try to take everyone鈥檚 recommendations in various ways. We will discuss and decide how to get feedback from the political parties,鈥� he added.
鈥楾he constitution is connected with elections, many laws are connected, regulations are connected. We will review the constitutional provisions related to elections. We will recommend what can be done about these later,鈥� he said.
He also said that their major task would be to review many laws, including The Representation of the People Order.
鈥楨very sentence we will review and try to evaluate whether there is any need to change. However, there are many forms regarding election, we will look into these, if any changes are needed,鈥� he said.
He said that they would like to make some recommendations based on experience on how to make these institutions impartial and effective.
鈥極ur big issue is the expatriates鈥� right to vote. We will look into these issues. Our technology experts will look into it. We will take help from others. We will review women鈥檚 participation in the electoral system and the reserved seats in the national elections, the reserved seats in the local elections,鈥� he said.
Committee members Tofail Ahmed, Jasmine Tully, Md Abdul Alim, Zahed Ur Rahman, Mir Nadia Nivin, and Md Sadek Ferdous were present the meeting.
The government formed the committee on October 4 to bring necessary reforms to the country鈥檚 election system.