Badiul Alam Majumdar

Dr Badiul Alam Majumdar is secretary of SHUJAN: Citizens for Good Governance.

Are women’s reserved seats in parliament only tokens?

Does our present reservation system really promote the empowerment of women politicians?

9m ago

Turn candidates' halafnama into amalnama

It is heartening to see that the media has been preparing statements based on the information in affidavits submitted by the candidates who are running for parliament.

12m ago

Another managed election will be disastrous

Continued denial of voting and other political and democratic rights is bound to become a very serious threat in the future.

1y ago

We are heading towards another one-sided election

Voters will be deprived of the opportunity to choose from worthy candidates in a one-sided election.

1y ago

The Election Commission’s credibility problem

A number of controversial decisions, actions and statements of the EC itself has put it in this situation.

1y ago

How constitutional is the 15th amendment?

It is clear that the 15th Amendment was neither legitimate nor constitutional, as no referendum was held before its passage.

1y ago

Barishal, Khulna city polls exposed what's wrong with our elections

The elections to Barishal and Khulna city corporations held on May 12, 2023 cannot be considered free, fair and credible, as they were non-competitive.

1y ago

What will it take for our next election to be credible and acceptable to all?

It must be recognised that the election is not a one-day phenomenon – it is a process involving multiple interrelated steps

1y ago
December 13, 2022
December 13, 2022

Steer Bangladesh towards peaceful solutions

As citizens, we have been largely deprived of many rights, including our right to exercise franchise. Not only that, our politics is now under massive strain as a result of the attempts of the political parties to uproot their respective rival parties over the years.

November 1, 2022
November 1, 2022

Economic and political reforms must go hand in hand

All our institutions are crumbling because of politicisation, inefficiencies, and corruption.

October 16, 2022
October 16, 2022

The EC’s main job is to conduct elections, not suspend them

In order to make the next general election an acceptable one, the EC must evolve beyond the use of CCTV cameras.

October 15, 2022
October 15, 2022

CCTV monitoring not enough to prevent election irregularities

What the suspension of Gaibandha-5 by-poll really means

June 19, 2022
June 19, 2022

Dire lessons from the Cumilla City Corporation election

The just completed Cumilla City Corporation election was a “test case” for the newly formed Awal Commission.

February 23, 2022
February 23, 2022

Search Committee for EC: Transparency can counter confidence crisis

In a recent press briefing, Justice Obaidul Hassan, chair of the Search Committee for the Election Commission (EC), confirmed their decision not to disclose the names of the 10 individuals they will recommend to the president to constitute the new EC.

February 19, 2022
February 19, 2022

What is required for Bangladesh’s democracy to flourish?

In his famous Gettysburg Address of 1863, Abraham Lincoln defined democracy as “government of the people, by the people, for the people.”

February 8, 2022
February 8, 2022

The Search Committee Must Search Transparently

On January 27, after much debate, drama and blame game, the Appointment of Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners Act, 2022 was passed in parliament.

November 26, 2021
November 26, 2021

The maladies that poisoned the UP elections

The elections of 1,198 union parishads (UPs) were held in two phases. We have noticed five notable features in these elections.

June 28, 2021
June 28, 2021

How do we tackle this new onslaught of the coronavirus?

The infection rate and deaths from the coronavirus have been increasing after the Eid-ul-Fitr holidays. On June 26 the infection rate was 22.50 percent (with 4,334 cases) and there were 77 Covid-related deaths, fuelled by the Indian Delta variety, which is a lot more infectious and deadly.