Free, fair election not possible without caretaker govt: AB Party tells EU delegates

It will never be possible to ensure a fair and peaceful election without bringing back the election-time nonpartisan government by restructuring the electoral system, Amar Bangladesh Party (AB Party) leaders have told the European Union's pre-election observation team.

If the conducive environment, neutrality, and acceptability of the election is not ensured by changing the structure, the countrymen will not get any benefit from election observation; rather, it will be considered as an arrangement to give an unfair legitimacy to an illegal and unelected government, said the AB Party leaders at a meeting at the European Union's office in Dhaka on Saturday.

At the invitation of the Election Commission, a six-member pre-election observation team of the European Union came to Dhaka on Sunday to assess the environment of the upcoming national election.

The European Union invited the AB Party leaders through a letter on 3 July for an exchange of views.

The AB Party delegation that met the European Union observers included the party's Joint Convener and International Affairs Sub-committee Coordinator Advocate Tajul Islam, Joint Member Secretary Barrister Asaduzzaman Fuad, and Barrister Jubair Ahmed Bhuiyan, Senior Assistant Member Secretary Aminul Islam, and Assistant Member Secretary Barrister Nasreen Sultana Milli.

The European Union delegation asked the AB Party leaders about the realities, benefits and recommendations regarding sending an election observation mission for the upcoming election.

In a written briefing, AB Party representatives said four of the last 11 general elections in Bangladesh were held under non-partisan governments. Those elections were peaceful, fair and acceptable. The seven elections held under the party governments were tainted and farcical which the nation witnessed repeatedly in 2014 and 2018.

The AB party leaders said the Awami League unilaterally abolished the caretaker government system incorporated in the constitution based on all-party consensus, and destroyed the electoral system of Bangladesh. The court was also cheated in this case.

They said the basic structures of the state, democracy, rule of law, and human rights have been destroyed. In order to overcome the crisis, the caretaker government system, which was abolished by force, should be brought back and the wishes of the people of Bangladesh should be implemented. Only then free, fair, participatory and acceptable elections are possible, said the AB Party leaders.

Highlighting the history of the caretaker government system, the AB Party leaders said a historic "political understanding" was created by establishing a non-partisan caretaker government on the basis of all-party consensus through the 13th Amendment in 1996. The government has violated its election mandate and oath by cancelling the caretaker government system in the light of a conflicting verdict of the Supreme Court.

The government hastily abolished the caretaker government on 30 June 2011 without holding a referendum. Ignoring even the unanimous opinion of the Parliamentary Committee, they have plunged the country into uncertainty which is the main cause of the current political deadlock and crisis, they said.

In the briefing, the AB party also said, "In the 52 years of independence, Bangladesh has come to a real turning point. Bangladesh will lose its way again if it fails to realise the future reality of the Indo-Pacific region. The country will be separated from a free, open and democratic system and will be in danger of being chained to authoritarianism in the long run.

"If the dictatorial rule of one person, family and party continues in the country like the ones in North Korea, Cambodia and Belarus, then we will lose the freedom we fought for. Therefore, the way of reflecting public opinion should be unimpeded by changing the electoral structure. Neutrality and acceptability must be ensured, otherwise, there will be no truly national elections. Because of these reasons, the people of the country will not get any benefit from the monitoring, but it will once again clear the way to give an unfair legitimacy to an illegal and unelected government."