Brief Discussion on Election Commission of Bangladesh

Election is the method of selecting public representatives. The process of selecting representatives is called Election. And the Election Commission is an organization that organizes and implements the electoral process of any country. Election Commission is an essential institution in the modern democratic governance system.

Section 118 to 126 of the constitution of Bangladesh contains detailed references about the Election Commission.

According to the constitution of Bangladesh, the clause and sub-clauses relating to the establishment of Election Commission have been added in Article 118, which allows for the formation of a chief Election Commissioner and not more than four Election Commissioners.

The Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners are appointed by the President of Bangladesh. The Election Commissioner is appointed for a term of five years from the day he first assumes office. No person holding the office of Election Commissioner shall be eligible for appointment to the functions of the Republic.

Article 119 says about the functions of Election Commission. The Election Commission is run as per constitution and law –

• Hold elections to the office of President

• Hold elections of members of parliament

• Delimit the constituencies for the purpose of elections to the parliament

• Prepare electoral rolls for the purpose of elections to the office of President and to parliament

Article 121 calls for the preparation of a single voter list per region for parliamentary election. According to the Article 122, clause 2; A person shall be entitled to be enrolled on the electoral role for a constituency delimited for the purpose of election to the parliament, if he –

• Is a citizen of Bangladesh

• Is not less than eighteen years of age

• Does not stand declared by a competent court to be of unsound mind

• Has not been convicted of any offence under the Bangladesh collaborations (special tribunal order,1972)

Article 123,124 and 125 state the time of holding election, power of parliament to make provisions about election respectively and the validity of election law and elections.

The duty of all executive authorities will be to assist the election commission in fulfilling its duties as per Article 126.

Finally it can be said that, the acceptance and necessity of the Election Commission increases as well as the establishment of a real democratic government in a state through the constitutionally established transparent and impartial election for the purpose of conducting the elections at various levels of the Election Commission.