Editorial
EC image touches new low
Fast losing public confidence
After five months of an inexplicable dilatory tactical show, the Chief Election Commissioner has held a meeting of the commission resting on the crutch of two newly appointed commissioners to have the balance of decision making tip in his favour. It should leave no one in doubt that he is determined to have his way, no matter if it has curtailed the lead-time for preparation of electoral roll by a few months and instilled a sense of disbelief in the public mind about the ability of a divided commission to deliver the goods. One only hopes that he is solely guided by only one agenda which is that of ensuring the conduct of an impartial and credible national election and not interested in ego play that lends itself to all kinds of negative interpretation.The way the CEC has acquitted of himself so far, we are constrained to say, revealed his bias in the perception of things which got reflected through his actions. This doesn't behoove his high constitutional position and casts a serious doubt on his overall leadership ability. One wonders why he must seem to be indifferent and insensitive to the need for maintaining certain standards of credibility for himself and, more importantly, for the election commission that he heads. One of the new commissioners, S M Zakaria, has faulted the media for harming the image of the EC by putting the commissioners against each other. Has he enhanced the image of the EC by openly grilling his colleagues M Munsef Ali and A K Mohammad Ali, the two old election commissioners? He has even reportedly used such offensive language as they being 'illiterate', tarnishing election commission image by talking 'nonsense'. Another newly inducted election commissioner Justice Mahfuzur Rahman while referring to the High Court directions argued 'since the judgement is not lawful (because no ruling was issued) the question of compliance does not arise.' Since both sides were present at the writ hearing and presented their cases the question of issuing a rule didn't arise as the defendant was not an absentee party. But that doesn't dilute the merit of the observations that the judges made and the importance of adhering to the directions of the HC which primarily required that a voter list be revised drawing upon the previous one and that the EC worked as a commission through majority decision rather than by any unilateral diktat. The remarks that the new commissioners made against their colleagues after oath-taking have undermined the EC and also the highest judiciary of the country. People would like to see an end to such bickering in the EC so as to feel that the next general election is in safe hands.
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