Law
week
EC starts drafting rules, code of conduct
The Election Commission (EC) began finalising the draft electoral rules and code of conduct for polls to upazila parishads with a strict provision to disqualify candidates using their political affiliation in the polls.
The EC also plans to hold the long overdue polls to Dhaka City Corporation (DCC) late October by having the voter list of DCC areas ready by the first week of September, sources in the EC Secretariat said.
According to an EC decision made on July 10, polls to 300 out of 482 upazila parishads will be held on the fourth week of October. The EC will ask the government to relax the state of emergency in the areas concerned for allowing candidates run campaigns, EC sources said.
The polls to DCC might be held alongside polls to upazila parishads, they added. Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) ATM Shamsul Huda said the commission is preparing to hold the upazila parishad polls on October 23, a tentative date. -The Daily Star, July 23, 2008.
Loan defaulters' polls bid over
Loan defaulters will not get any opportunity of becoming eligible to contest in the upcoming upazila and parliamentary polls by rescheduling their loans, although the new electoral laws allow them to become eligible by rescheduling the loans within specific timeframes before submissions of applications for candidacies.
They will be deprived of the opportunity since the timeframes provided by the new electoral laws for taking advantage of it are already over for the upcoming elections, as the laws are being promulgated too late.
Loan defaulters were allowed to contest in elections in the past through rescheduling of loans anytime prior to the dates of filing applications for candidacies. -The Daily Star, July 21, 2008.
Bureaucracy reform move goes into hibernation
The caretaker government's move to infuse dynamism, accountability and transparency into the public administration has hardly seen any progress since the initiative was taken a year ago.
This has frustrated many including a few civil bureaucrats who have been in favour of reforms in the civil administration. They said like many other initiatives this may also end up in rhetoric.
Formed in July last year with an objective of giving concrete directives for reforms in the administration and guidelines for posting and transfer, the chief adviser-led cabinet committee on administrative reforms and good governance has so far managed to hold just one meeting.
As the government is presently busy with holding dialogues with political parties and the upcoming local government and parliamentary elections, chances are slim that another meeting would be held in near future. -The Daily Star, July 21, 2008.
Govt ordinances salvaged
The Supreme Court (SC) stayed for one month the High Court (HC) judgment that declared illegal and void the Muslim Marriage and Divorce (Registration) Amendment Ordinance 2008 promulgated by the president.
Upon a government petition, Chamber Judge of the Appellate Division Justice MA Matin passed the order, also asking the government to file a regular appeal with the SC against the HC verdict within this period.
The ordinance promulgated by the president empowers deputy commissioners to recruit kazis (official marriage registrars).
Six kazis including Pirzada Syed Hazee Shariatullah, kazi of Moghbazar in Dhaka and president of Bangladesh Muslim Marriage Registration and Kazi Samity, on March 13 jointly filed a writ petition with the HC challenging the ordinance.
On July 13, the HC bench of Justice ABM Khairul Haque and Justice Md Abu Tariq declared the ordinance illegal and void, observing that the president had promulgated the ordinance beyond his constitutional jurisdiction. -The Daily Star, July 21, 2008.
Education privilege abused for politics
Over 5,000 educational institutions were unnecessarily entitled to monthly pay order (MPO) by the last two political governments, leading to an annual loss of Tk 600 crore.
A school, college or madrasa won't be eligible for MPO if there is another such institution within three kilometres in rural and one kilometre in urban areas. Besides, an institution for a population of minimum 8,000 can apply for MPO.
These rules along with many others were grossly violated in the last ten years of political governments' rule, especially during the tenure of the BNP-Jamaat government. Many BNP and Jamaat legislators and politicians set up huge number of non-government institutions unnecessarily and named those after themselves, family members or senior politicians.
As many as 3,063 institutions -- 897 high schools, 57 colleges, 706 madrasas, 831 vocational Institutions and 572 business management institutions -- are badly needed in the remote areas in Dhaka, Chittagong and Sylhet. -The Daily Star, July 20, 2008.
Caretaker govt can't violate constitution
Speaker Barrister Jamiruddin Sircar observed that local government polls cannot be held before the national elections saying it would violate the Constitution and existing laws.
"Holding local government elections before the parliamentary one is not permissible in the Constitution and law. According to the Constitution, the caretaker government will discharge its routine functions and assist the Election Commission to hold national polls," he said.
He added the caretaker government was an interim government, which cannot make any policymaking decisions.
"The caretaker government can enact laws relating to polls but can't violate the Constitution. The chief election commissioner is repeatedly saying that there is no restriction in holding the local government polls now. But there is no provision in the Constitution of holding these elections during the interim rule." -The Daily Star, July 20, 2008.
Khaleda's release stuck in conditions
Release of BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia is being delayed as she and the authorities have yet to reach a consensus on the conditions, party sources said. In response to the strings attached to her release, the former prime minister has come up with counter-conditions, they added.
She has demanded that her elder son Tarique Rahman and the other detained party leaders who are not convicted yet must be freed before her release. BNP insiders said the authorities have laid down a number of conditions for her release. They want her to go to a particular country for treatment and refrain from politics for a certain period of time (minimum five years).
She has also been requested to pass the chairperson's responsibility to someone else before going abroad after release. But as of now, Khaleda has not agreed to leave the country, they added. -The Daily Star, July 24, 2008.
Govt to appoint 2,000 law officers thru' PSC
The newly established Government Attorney Department has taken initiatives to recruit about 2,000 law officers for conducting cases in the courts including the apex court on behalf of the state.This is the first time in the country's history that law officers are going to be recruited through the Public Service Commission (PSC).
The attorney department has earlier been set up under the Government Attorney Service Ordinance, 2008 for dealing with cases in courts and performing other duties on behalf of the state.
The department has recently put forward a proposal of recruiting 197 law officers (attorneys) for the Supreme Court and 1,799 others for the subordinate courts to be approved by the ministries concerned. -The Daily Star, July 24, 2008.
Corresponding with the Law Desk
Please send your mails, queries, and opinions to: Law Desk, The Daily Star 19 Karwan Bazar, Dhaka-1215; telephone 8124944,8124955,fax 8125155; email: dslawdesk@yahoo.co.uk,lawdesk@thedailystar.net
