BanglaBhoot
RETIRED TTA
- Joined
- Apr 8, 2007
- Messages
- 8,839
- Reaction score
- 5
- Country
- Location
91E stays, no EPR convicts in polls, EC maintains
Dhaka, Nov 27 (bdnews24.com) The Election Commission will not cancel clause 91E of the RPO, which gives the EC power to cancel candidacy, says commissioner Muhammed Sohul Hussain, despite demands by BNP and its allies.
The alliance had called for cancellation of the provision as a condition for the alliance's participation in the upcoming election, along with three other demands including rescheduling elections and lifting the state of emergency.
Sohul also reiterated on Thursday no-one convicted for breach of Emergency Powers Rules will be able to run for the parliament.
"Those who have been convicted under the EPR cannot seek nomination for parliamentary polls," he said to reporters when asked whether convicts under the Emergency Powers Rules and other laws would be eligible.
He spoke to the media after meeting with law adviser AFM Hassan Ariff in his office. M Salahuddin, the attorney general, also attended the meeting at the Secretariat.
"In case a convict under the criminal penal code files an appeal, he may be a polls contestant only when the case verdict has been stayed," Sohul said.
Asked whether a 'right environment' had been created for the election Sohul said: "We have been constantly urging the government to create the proper environment."
On when the state of emergency was being lifted, he said: "The emergency will be lifted in time."
BNP and its allies have claimed 91E of the RPO is an obstacle to fair elections, as it is meant to "harass" candidates, although the EC has given clarification on the clause assuring it cannot be abused. Constitutional experts have also backed 91E, while Transparency International Bangladesh has called it "indispensable".
Section 91E (1) of the RPO provides that if it appears to the EC on receiving a verbal complaint or written report that any candidate or his agent, or any other person on his behalf, by his order engaged or attempted to violate any provision of the RPO electoral or code of conduct, the EC may investigate giving the candidate an opportunity of being heard.
Section 91E (2) provides that after receiving the investigation report, if the EC is satisfied that it is true, the commission may by a written order cancel the candidature of such candidate and in that event the election shall be held among the other contesting candidates of the concerned constituency.
bdnews24.com/mk/aj/wz/rah/1425hours
91E stays, no EPR convicts in polls, EC maintains :: Politics :: bdnews24.com ::
Dhaka, Nov 27 (bdnews24.com) The Election Commission will not cancel clause 91E of the RPO, which gives the EC power to cancel candidacy, says commissioner Muhammed Sohul Hussain, despite demands by BNP and its allies.
The alliance had called for cancellation of the provision as a condition for the alliance's participation in the upcoming election, along with three other demands including rescheduling elections and lifting the state of emergency.
Sohul also reiterated on Thursday no-one convicted for breach of Emergency Powers Rules will be able to run for the parliament.
"Those who have been convicted under the EPR cannot seek nomination for parliamentary polls," he said to reporters when asked whether convicts under the Emergency Powers Rules and other laws would be eligible.
He spoke to the media after meeting with law adviser AFM Hassan Ariff in his office. M Salahuddin, the attorney general, also attended the meeting at the Secretariat.
"In case a convict under the criminal penal code files an appeal, he may be a polls contestant only when the case verdict has been stayed," Sohul said.
Asked whether a 'right environment' had been created for the election Sohul said: "We have been constantly urging the government to create the proper environment."
On when the state of emergency was being lifted, he said: "The emergency will be lifted in time."
BNP and its allies have claimed 91E of the RPO is an obstacle to fair elections, as it is meant to "harass" candidates, although the EC has given clarification on the clause assuring it cannot be abused. Constitutional experts have also backed 91E, while Transparency International Bangladesh has called it "indispensable".
Section 91E (1) of the RPO provides that if it appears to the EC on receiving a verbal complaint or written report that any candidate or his agent, or any other person on his behalf, by his order engaged or attempted to violate any provision of the RPO electoral or code of conduct, the EC may investigate giving the candidate an opportunity of being heard.
Section 91E (2) provides that after receiving the investigation report, if the EC is satisfied that it is true, the commission may by a written order cancel the candidature of such candidate and in that event the election shall be held among the other contesting candidates of the concerned constituency.
bdnews24.com/mk/aj/wz/rah/1425hours
91E stays, no EPR convicts in polls, EC maintains :: Politics :: bdnews24.com ::
