Parliamentary election is one of the most fundamental pillars of democracy in Bangladesh. And election campaigning is an important aspect of parliamentary election. While campaigning, it is of utmost importance to follow legal procedures that will facilitate the ensuring of a level playing field for all contending candidates. Level playing field, in turn, is crucial for a free and fair election which, as has already been mentioned, is a fundamental pillar of democracy.

The campaigning activities of the political parties, candidates and their supporters during the parliamentary election period are regulated by the Code of Conduct known as Jatiyo Sangsad Nirbachoni Achoron Bidhimala, 2008 which was formulated by the Election Commission of Bangladesh exercising its power under article 92B of the Representation of the People Order, 1972. The election period starts with the declaration of election schedule and ends with publication of the election results in the official gazette by the Election Commission during which the code of conduct must be followed strictly by the political parties, candidates and their supporters.

During the election period, the most commonly used methods are canvassing or campaigning through posters, leaflets, banners and billboards which can be made of paper, rexin, digital display board or an electronic medium. The poster size shall be 60cm x 45cm and the banner size shall be 3m x 1m and both must be printed in black and white only. The poster can contain only portrait photo of the candidate, the party chief and the symbol that he is contesting with. Thus, use of any other photographs and in any other colour are not allowed. It is also obligatory to print the name and address of the printing press and the date of printing on both the poster and banner.

The poster or banner can only be hanged for campaigning purposes. It is prohibitory to paste the poster on government or local government buildings or any building, wall, tree, electricity poll, telephone poll or any other standing structure situated in the city corporation or municipal area and in any bus, truck, train, steamer, launch, rickshaw or any other type of vehicles. Campaigning through writing or drawing anything with colour on wall, building, electricity and telephone pillar, roof of the building, any bridge, road, road divider, vehicle or any other structure are also prohibited.

The candidates and their supporters are allowed to organise public meetings or rallies during the election period but must not hold any public meeting on roads which may obstruct the movement and hinder regular commute of the general public.

Although showdown with vehicles such as motor cycle, car etc. along with the candidate waiving from the vehicle towards general people is a common scene for election campaigning, doing any such showdown, procession or torch procession using any vehicles such as bus, truck, motor cycle, steamer, launch, train or any other type of vehicle, is strictly prohibited.

The code of conduct prohibits making of any gate or toron for campaigning and allow maximum 400 square feet space for temporary shade (pandel).It is also prohibited to do any decoration with electricity such as lighting, printing/pasting of the photo or any statement of the candidate in shirt, jacket or fotua; providing any soft drinks, foods or gifts to the voters is also prohibited.

The candidates and their supporters are strictly required to maintain peace and avoid any activities which may cause hardship for the general people. The use of microphone or any other sound system is restricted to be used only between 2pm to 8pm.

The candidates and their supporters must refrain from giving any defamatory speech or any speech which may cause harm to the communal harmony, religious sentiment or gender equality. It is prohibited to use mosques, temples, churches or any place of worship for election campaigning. No candidates and their supporters including VIPs, are allowed to use government property, vehicles, services or employees of autonomous and purely government bodies for canvass/campaigning.

The above-mentioned rules are compulsory and obligatory for the candidates and their supporters and violation thereof may result maximum 6 months imprisonment or Taka 50,000 fine or both. The election commission may consider introducing stricter punishment such as dismissal of nomination for better compliance of the code.

Considering the nuances of the country’s journey towards and transformation into a digital Bangladesh, the election commission must introduce detailed provision for campaigning when it happens in social media and digital media especially on how the campaigning shall be broadcast in such media. Moreover, the code offers almost nothing on the contents/criteria regarding the indirect campaigning/canvass by the candidates which often creates confusion and chaos.

It is encouraging to notice through a general observation of the ongoing election canvassing/campaign that compared to previous times, quite a good number of candidates of all political parties in Dhaka are making efforts to comply with the election campaign code while campaigning for themselves. However, the pertinent question is whether or not the Election Commission has been able to achieve maximum compliance of the campaign/canvassing codes of conduct all over Bangladesh to ensure the very desired fair election that it is obliged to ensure under the Constitution of Bangladesh.

The writer is a Barrister-at-Law and Advocate, Supreme Court of Bangladesh.

Research assistant: Ashiqur Rahman, LLB, LLM 

Sketches by: Monindro Paul