It may be mentioned that the during the time of the CTG of 2001, a presidential ordinance made amendment(s) to The Representation of the People Order (RPO), 1972 that made provision for registration of political parties with the EC. But in the face of strong opposition from major political parties, including the AL and BNP, the amendments could not make political parties' registration with the EC mandatory. So, registration of political parties with the EC has remained optional so far.

The salient points of the 2001 amendments to RPO, 1972 for registration of a political party with the EC are: (a) submitting an application by a political party with certain information such as addresses of its head office and affiliated or associated bodies, total number of members on the date of application, the number of members in parliament, if any, elected on its nomination; (b) enclosing a copy of the constitution of the party, which shall bear true faith and allegiance to the Constitution of Bangladesh and uphold the sovereignty, unity and integrity of Bangladesh; (c) registering the applicant as a political party or rejecting the application after giving an opportunity of hearing; (d) canceling the registration of a political party on its dissolution or amalgamation with any other political party; (e) giving a registered political party certain privileges such as, granting one of the symbols for all the candidates set up by it in any general election to parliament, getting on set of electoral rolls at half of cost, allowing broadcasting and telecasting facilities in the state-owned electronic media during the general election, and consulting by the EC in respect of any matter relating to parliamentary election.

As the provision for registration was made optional, none of the major political parties, including the AL, BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami, applied for their registration in the last six years. Thirty five or so political parties have reportedly applied for registration, but most of them are "name-only" parties.

A closer look into the political parties' registration laws in some countries, including UK, Australia, Canada, India, Pakistan shows that in order to register itself with the EC as well as to retain its registration, a political party has to abide by, inter alia, the following provisions of the registration laws.

• Furnishing in the application for registration a satisfactory name of the party that does not clash with any other party's name.
• Providing detailed address of the party's head office and addresses of its affiliated entities in the application for registration.
• Enclosing a copy of the constitution of the party with the application for registration.
• Requiring a certain number of persons as members of a party.
• Depositing a certain amount as fee.
• Furnishing a financial scheme showing how the party will comply with the financial controls.
• Furnishing annual audited reports showing its incomes and expenditures.
• Maintaining democracy within the party, which includes, inter alia, regular intra-party election.
• Prohibiting the receipt of funds from foreign or anonymous donors.
• Fixing ceiling for incurring expenditure on campaign.
• Allowing only a registered political party one symbol for all the candidates set up by it in any national election.
• Subjecting to compliance reviews by the EC.
• Canceling registration of a political party for flouting registration laws.

There has been a persistent demand from the civil society groups, experts and the media for amendment(s) to the RPO,1972 to make registration of political parties mandatory. The CTG's reported move for mandatory registration of political parties with the EC for their contesting parliamentary elections as political parties with one symbol(s) for all the candidates nominated by them may largely be considered a follow-up of that demand.

Mandatory registration of a political party with the EC to contest general elections as a political party is expected to bring some salutary effects.

First, mandatory registration of political parties with the EC will largely strengthen democratic culture within a political party, which is completely lacking in our political parties including the two major parties, the AL and the BNP.

Second, a registered political party will have to maintain its accounts in the prescribed manner indicating its incomes and expenses, sources of funds, assets and liabilities of each financial year and submit to the EC a consolidated statement of accounts audited by a chartered accountant, accompanied by a certificate to the effect that no funds from any prohibited source were received by the party and the statement contains accurate financial position of the party. This will help make transparent the funding of political parties, and may ultimately bring transparency, accountability and discipline in the electoral process.

Third, experience of the past three decades or so shows that the party in power has, from time to time, been very active to split up an opposition party into groups to meet its political ends. Mandatory registration of a political party with the EC to qualify for contesting as a political party in the general elections will act as a deterrence to the splitting up of political parties.

Last but not the least, ground realities tell us that politics is no longer a service to the society; rather, it has become a lucrative profession. So, many have reasonably argued that while even the smallest of shops or business is required to be licensed or registered, then why there should not be legal binding for registration of political parties.

In order to make the move for mandatory registration of political parties with the EC a success, the reconstituted Election Commission should carefully examine the laws for registration of political parties in those countries where registration of political parties with the EC has been made compulsory for their contesting national elections as political parties with common symbol(s) for all the candidates nominated by them.

Secondly, and more importantly, the EC should immediately start discussion with the political parties on this issue. Time is running out fast. The reconstituted CTG and the EC shall have to work hard to create a congenial environment to hold election to the 9th parliament without further impairing the constitutional provision(s) for holding that election.

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