Brigadier General M Sakhawat Hossain speaks to DOT :
The Election Commission (EC) has cancelled 786 nominations until December 2 during its scrutiny process before clearing candidates to contest for the general elections. Aspiring candidates whose nominations have been cancelled by the returning officers then filed appeal at the EC challenging the rejection to run for general elections on December 30. The EC then started on Thursday i.e. 6 December the gargantuan task of disposing of 543 appeals against returning officers’ nomination rejections. The EC got only three days to finish the job, as it had to be done before December 9, which the last date for withdrawing candidature.
In this regard, M Sakhawat Hossain said that the number of cancellation of nomination this year is unprecedented. Hossain thinks there was lack of understanding on the law and applicable rules at the field level, which might have resulted into this massive number of cancellation of nomination. The returning officers might not have been clear on the grounds of rejection and that might have caused them to accept or cancel nominations arbitrarily.
As a result, the whole thing had come upon EC’s shoulder. EC was also under tremendous pressure as it had to dispose 543 appeals within three days only, starting from 6 December and ending on 8 December.
EC’s sincerity in dealing with this whole process is praiseworthy and its intention to ensure that aspirants are not deprived of their rights relating to the election is visible.
EC should now identify the returning officers who have capriciously cancelled the nominations and have put EC in this embarrassing situation. EC should also take necessary actions against these returning officers who could not act upon their duties as per the law.
Hossain is a former Election Commissioner of Bangladesh.
Interviewed by Tasmiah Nuhiya Ahmed, Executive Editor, Daily Our Time.