The Constitution of Bangladesh has neither prescribed qualifications for appointment as the CEC and ECs nor fixed the number of ECs to be appointed nor prescribed the detailed procedure for selection of persons for appointing as CEC and ECs. The Constitution says that 'there shall be an Election Commission for Bangladesh consisting of a Chief Election Commissioner and such number of other Election Commissioners, if any, as the President may from time to time direct, and the appointment of the Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners (if any) shall, subject to the provisions of any law made in that behalf, be made by the President' [Article 118(1)]. The constitution has made an EC, on ceasing to hold his office, eligible for appointment as the CEC [Article118(2)(b)]. A closer look into above Article however reveals that the constitution has made provision for enactment of a law for the purpose. But no such law has been enacted during the last 34 plus years of independence. Under the aforementioned circumstances, the appointments of the CEC and ECs are at the pleasure of the ruling party.

Let me now describe the legal provisions that exist in some countries for selection of persons for appointment as the chief of Election Commission/ Electoral Commission and members thereof.

Electoral Commission Act, 1996 of the Republic of South Africa provides that the Commission shall consist of five members, one of whom shall be a judge, appointed by the President.

No person shall be appointed as a member of the Commission unless he or she(a)is a South African citizen;(b)does not at that stage have a high party-political profile; (c) has been recommended by the National Assembly by a resolution adopted by a majority of the members of that Assembly; and(d) has been nominated by a committee of the National Assembly, proportionally composed of members of all parties represented in that Assembly, from a list of recommended candidates submitted to the Committee by a panel consisting of -- (a) the President of the Constitutional Court, as Chairperson; (b) a representative of the Human Rights Commission established by the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa; (c) a representative of the Commission on Gender Equality established by the Constitution; and(d) the Public Protector established by the Constitution.

The panel shall submit a list of no fewer than eight recommended candidates to the Committee of the National Assembly. The panel shall act in accordance with the principles of transparency and openness and make its recommendations with due regard to a person's suitability, qualifications and experience.

The President shall designate a Chairperson and Vice-chairperson from among the members of the Commission.

The Constitution of Thailand provides that the Election Commission shall consist of a Chairman and other four Commissioners appointed, by the King with the advice of the Senate, from persons of apparent political impartiality and integrity. The President of the Senate shall countersign the Royal Command appointing the Chairman and Commissioners.

An Election Commissioner shall have the qualifications and shall not be under any prohibition as follows: (1) being of Thai nationality by birth; (2) being of not less than forty years of age on the nomination day; (3) having graduated with not lower than a Bachelor's degree or its equivalent; (4) not being a member of the House of Representatives or the Senate, a political official, a member of a local assembly or a local administrator; (5) not being or having been a member of or holder of other position in a political party throughout the period of five years preceding the holding of office; (6) not being an Ombudsman, a member of the National Human Rights Commission, a judge of the Constitutional Court, a judge of the Administrative Court, a member of the National Counter Corruption Commission or a member of the State Audit Commission.

The Constitution has provided the detailed procedure for selection and election of Chairman and ECs. The selection and election of Chairman and ECs shall be proceeded as follows: (1) there shall be a Selective Committee of ten members consisting of the President of the Constitutional Court as Chairman, President of the Supreme Administrative Court, Rectors of all State higher education institutions which are juristic persons, being elected among themselves to be four in number, and representatives of all political parties having a member who is a member of the House of Representatives, provided that each party shall have one representative and all such representatives shall elect among themselves to be four in number, to be in charge of the consideration and selection of five persons, who have the necessary qualifications and are suitable to be Election Commissioners, for making nomination to the President of the Senate upon consent of the nominated persons. The resolution making such nomination must be passed by votes of not less than three-fourths of the number of all existing members of the Selective Committee;

(2) the Supreme Court of Justice shall, at its general meeting, consider and select five persons who are suitable to be Election Commissioners for making nomination to the President of the Senate upon consent of the nominated persons;

(3) the nominations under (1) and (2) above shall be made within thirty days as from the date when a ground for the selection of persons to be in such office occurs. In the case where the Selective Committee under (1) is unable to make nomination, or unable to make nomination in the complete number, within the prescribed time, the Supreme Court of Justice shall, at its general meeting, make nomination to obtain the complete number within fifteen days as from the date of the expiration of the nomination time under (1);

(4) the President of the Senate shall convoke the Senate for passing, by secret ballot, a resolution electing the nominated persons under (1), (2) and (3). For this purpose, the first five persons who receive the highest votes which are more than one half of the total number of the existing senators shall be elected as Election Commissioners, but if the number of the said elected persons is less than five, the name-list of those not elected in that first occasion shall be submitted to the senators for voting on another occasion and consecutively. In such case, the persons receiving the highest number of votes in respective order up to five shall be deemed to be elected as Election Commissioners. On this occasion, if there are persons receiving equal votes in any order which result in having more than five elected persons, the President of the Senate shall draw lots to determine who are elected persons;

(5) the elected persons under (4) shall meet and elect among themselves Chairman of the Election Commission and, then, notify the President of the Senate of the result. The President of the Senate shall report to the King for further appointment.

Democracy in Nepal is at stake now. However, the 1990 Constitution of Nepal is the product of people's struggle for democracy. The Constitution provides for an Election Commission consisting of a CEC and such number of ECs as may be required. On the recommendation of the Constitutional Council headed by the Prime Minister and consisting of the Chief Justice, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Chairman of the National Assembly, and the Leader of the Opposition in the House of Representatives as members, His Majesty appoints the CEC and other Ecs.

A person shall be eligible for appointment as the CEC or an EC if he : a) holds a bachelor's degree from a university recognised by His Majesty's Government; b) is not a member of any political party immediately before appointment ; and (c) has attained the age of forty five.

The President of Pakistan appoints the CEC and the ECs. The President shall not appoint a person to be CEC unless he is, or has been a Judge of the Supreme Court, or is/ has been a Judge of a High Court and is qualified to be appointed a Judge of the Supreme Court. The four ECs, each one of whom shall be a judge of a High Court from each province, are appointed in consultation with the Chief Justice of the High Court concerned and the CEC.

In India, the CEC and two ECs are appointed by the President. The Constitution of India has not prescribed qualifications, detailed procedure for selection of persons for appointment of CEC and ECs. It has however made provision for enacting law on the issue.

The Federal Election Commission (FEC) of the United States (US) is an independent regulatory agency created in 1975 by Congress to administer and enforce campaign finance legislation in the US. It describes its duties as "to disclose campaign finance information, to enforce the provisions of the law such as the limits and prohibitions on contributions, and to oversee the public funding of Presidential elections." The Commission is made up of six members, who are appointed by the US President and confirmed by the US Senate.

The above references have been made to emphasise the need for enacting a law in the country which will, among others, prescribe qualifications for appointment of CEC and ECs, fix the number of ECs to be appointed and provide detailed procedure for selection of persons to be appointed the CEC and ECs. This is because of the fact that unless a law is enacted to ensure appointment of politically neutral, efficient and honest persons as CEC and ECs, the political party /alliance that is now in power or the party/alliance that will come to power in future will invariably appoint persons loyal to them as CEC and ECs. Such appointments will thus continue to be a cause for poltical unrest.

To conclude, the ruling BNP, the main opposition AL and other parties having representation in parliament or not, should be united in the enactment of a law which will, inter alia, prescrie eligibility of persons to be appointed CEC and ECs, determine the number of ECs and provide detailed procedure for selection of persons for appointment as CEC and ECs. The ruling BNP, in particular, should take up the issuse seriously. Who knows the BNP will not be benefited from such a law in future.

M. Abdul Latif Mondal is a former Secretary to the Government.