High Ccourt halts public notice on party registration

The High Court has put on hold a public notice issued by the Election Commission (EC) relating to the registration of new political parties ahead of the 13th parliamentary elections.

On Tuesday, the bench of Justice Md Akram Hossain Chowdhury and Justice KM Rasheduzzaman Raja issued a rule asking why the notice should not be declared illegal and unconstitutional in response to a writ petition challenging its validity, reports bdnews24.com.

The EC, the chief election commissioner and the commission secretary have been given four weeks to respond to the rule.

The petition was filed on Monday by Hasanat Quaium, a Supreme Court lawyer and head of Rashtra Sanskar Andolan, or State Reform Movement.

Speaking to reporters after the ruling, Hasanat said: "The regulations under which this notice was issued contradict the core principles of the Constitution. The regulations were created during the army-backed caretaker government and were tightened during the fascist Awami League government's rule."

"The Electoral Reform Commission had suggested simplifying this regulation, but the Election Commission issued the notice before any changes could be made."

Hasanat also criticised the notice for including requirements like requiring new parties to have committees in 22 districts and 100 Upazilas for registration.

"These conditions would prevent indigenous communities from forming political parties."

Advocate Abeda Gulrukh, the lawyer for the petitioner, said: "This regulation is unconstitutional as it contradicts the Constitution's definition of political parties."

She also noted that the High Court's suspension of the notice's effectiveness applies only to the petitioners.

The EC issued the public notice on Mar 10, directing political parties seeking registration to submit an application with the necessary documents by Apr 20 using the prescribed form.

Under the current regulations, applicants must provide 10 pieces of information, including a non-refundable registration fee of Tk 5,000. The required documents include the party's constitution, election manifesto (if any), rules, logo, and a list of central committee members.

REGISTRATION CONDITIONS

According to the Representation of the People Order (RPO), a political party can qualify for registration if it meets one of the following conditions:

- The party must have at least one MP from any national election since Bangladesh's independence.

- The party's candidate must receive at least 5 percent of the total votes in the constituencies they contest.

- The party must have an active central office, committees in at least one-third of the administrative districts (21 districts), and support from at least 200 voters in each of at least 100 Upazilas or metropolitan areas.

- To register a new party, it must meet the third condition, as the first two conditions are not achievable for new parties.

The registration process was introduced by the ATM Shamsul Huda-led EC in 2008 as part of legal reforms, allowing only registered parties to participate in elections.

To run in parliamentary elections, political parties must be registered. Independent candidates can only run if they are not affiliated with a registered party.

So far, 54 parties have been registered with the EC, but five parties -- Jamaat-e-Islami, Freedom Party, Oikyabaddha Nagorik Andolan, Progressive Democratic Party, and Jatiya Ganotantrik Party -- had their registrations cancelled due to non-compliance with the conditions and a court order.