The referee has left his whistle at home

The Election Commission has become a metaphor for ineptitude. The gradual downslide in the performance of the main democratic institution of the country is disconcertingly palpable. And even more distressing it is to witness the willful renunciation of the power that the state has vested on the commission to perform its tasks effectively and efficiently.

How can one rationalise the EC's decision in 2013 to recommend doing away with article 91E of the RPO which deals with the power of the commission to declare null the candidature of any aspirant found violating the election codes? The arguments put forward by the EC was absurd at best because nothing can justify its willingness to divest itself of the only effective mechanism to maintain some sort of discipline in the  candidates, and his or her supporters, during the period of canvassing. That article remains in vogue though, but the EC has been either unwilling to, or incapable of, enforcing it. 

And when one of the main guardians of democracy resorts to an unintelligible whimper and tries to pass the buck on others for the shoddy conduct of elections, then people, and there are a good many of them, can't be blamed for projecting a bleak future for democracy in the country

The manner in which the two phases of the union council elections was conducted leaves little room for optimism. The disparaging remarks from some ruling party, even ruling coalition  members are testimony to the ineffectual role of the commission in the conduct of the current elections that has surpassed its feat in some of the elections in the recent past including its peerless performance in the 5th January, 2014 national election. 

A free and fair election empowers the voters. It happens when people can vote freely for candidates of their choice. It empowers by enabling one to offer oneself as a candidate.

Have the elections so far been free and fair? 85 candidates have been elected as chairman unopposed. Shortage of candidates is something unheard of in the lowest tier of local body election in our country when the election commission would sometimes run out of symbols because of the large number of candidates for this post. 

Violation of code of conduct started from the very initial process of the election with the ruling party aspirants hindering others' candidature, first by persuasion, and when persuasion failed coercion was employed. Even the AL rebel candidates had to face impediments. 

It is a given in our country that a ruling party will try to dominate the polls and resort to actions to get the results its way. It is at such a time as this that the election commission must work as the honest referee and blow the whistle at any infringement of rules. And it has the yellow and the red card to show as deemed appropriate. It seems the referee has left the whistle at home. Very few of the breaches have been taken cognizance of, if at all, and even fewer violators have been committed to the law. It was waiting for formal complaints from the aggrieved candidates. What prevented it from taking the media reports into consideration and initiating suo moto action, and conducting some sort of investigation to verify the reports?  

33 lives have been lost so far in the first two phases, and it is debasing to explain it away saying that election-related deaths occur in countries of our region too. The EC cannot pass the buck. 

The commission has not understood the heavy responsibility that the nation has reposed on it to safeguard democracy since a good election is a precondition for a good democracy. Its responsibility is to the people and it owes nothing to the government or the ruling or opposition or any other political party.  

But it is not the responsibility of the EC alone that the situation has come to such a pass. It appeared powerless in the face of the violence perpetrated by the ruling party men which elicited the most pungent comment even from AL alliance partners. 

The AL as a party cannot absolve itself of the responsibility for the actions of its candidates and their supporters. And that compels one to assume that there is an apprehension in the AL that an 'un-tampered' election might not fetch it the desired results. One fails to understand why so? The government policies have had a good approval rating, and as per a very recent survey by the International Republican Institute, among other positive indicators, 73 percent respondents think that the country is going in the right direction. If that be so, why the lurking fears to allow the election process run unhindered? Or is there a mismatch between what such surveys project and the reality on ground?    

The writer is Associate Editor, The Daily Star.