।। Shahdeen Malik ।।
Those who are aware of the current events have already known that the search committee for the formation of the election commission has declared that they would not disclose 10 names to be recommended to the president. We will not be able to know which political party, professional bodies and individuals have proposed these names.
I had a conversation over phone with a lawyer of the western world. He conducts cases in his own country. He also conducts legal activities in some other countries. In sequel to that I was introduced with him about two decades ago. At the time he engaged in a project of legal issues in Bangladesh. I talk to him may be once in two to four months. A few days ago he told me that he applied for the post of a judge at the High Court and was busy for three months for this purpose. It is a long application and whether he would be selected as a judge it may take five months to know the matter. In the application form for a judge of the High Court, an aspirant has to mention 20 names of persons who are familiar with his or her work. First of all he has to mention names of six to eight judges under whom he or she conducted cases.
Simultaneously he has to mention six to eight lawyers against those he or she fought legal battle in complex cases. He or she has to mention more four to five names of those who are familiar with his work at different level of his life. The search committee for appointing judges will talk to these 20 people and will take their opinion. This process takes three to six months. In the application, he has to give information of his education in law, what he has done as a lawyer, where he has worked, which big cases he conducted, whether involved in other work related to law, whether any research published in journal and any book published.
When we were talking and demanding transparency in the process of recruiting the chief election commissioner and other election commissioners, we never imagine the transparency of recruiting judges in the country of this known lawyer. Our demand was very little. It is the right of the citizens to know who proposed whose names, and on the basis of what qualification and skill, the search committee has selected the names for recommending to the president.
The constitution has taught us that people are the owners of the republic. This republic is of the citizens and ours. When there was no concept of the state in the past, at the time everything was owned by the king. Our forefathers were subjects of emperor, king and landlord. The decision the emperor, king or landlord took, our forefathers had to accept it silently. The subjects had no right to know or raise questions what and why.
We are lucky that we have become citizens from subjects. But we are unlucky that many of us have yet to understand this. Whatever big or high officials or not, the citizens have the right to ask why and what ground this decision is being taken.
Still if we are deprived of our ownership of the republic, Bangladesh will no longer be a republic. The country is turning into a monarchy. We will remain as subjects.
People are the entire owners of the republic. This power of the people has been handed over to different organisations to exercise it on our behalf. We have handed over our executive power to the government, we have given our power of justice to the judiciary and we have given our power of law formulation to the lawmakers. But we have given these powers on many conditions. If we hand over the power to run the country to any political party, we hand over for at best five years. After every five years the ruling party has to come to us and ask whether we want to give five more years. This is election.
Through the election, we will decide whether we are happy over those who are running the country or we would give the charge to any other for the next five years. It is our jurisdiction to whom, how and why we will give. The highest reason of Bangladesh is to become a true Bangladesh that none can curb this power and none can thwart the power of people to change the government through the election. Now if the election commission is formed in such a way, our dislike is not reflected in the election, then there is no value of our power. In another word, if we cannot say out of fear we are content or discontent on those, then our country would no longer remain as a republic. It will become a monarchy.
If the next election commission is formed in such a way and our decision is not reflected properly in the election under it, then there is no necessity of that commission. Like organising elections in 2014 and 2018, if another election commission is formed secretly and without informing us, our ownership of power as citizens would be taken away from us. Thus we would turn subjects from owners. We don’t want to be subjects from owners. As we don’t want, we expected that the election commission would be formed transparently. It is our failure it did not happen in the past, it did not happen in the last 50 years. We could not establish our ownership properly. But now we are demanding together.
Those whom we have given charge, they would try so that we remain subjects. As a result, their power would be unilateral instead of our power. In last 50 years, we descended to the level of subjects. Still we will descend a few more days. But our wretched condition would be temporary. The reason behind is that Bangladesh was established for the empowerment of the people not for curbing the power of the people. We must get back this power. We don’t need to wait for long.
Dr. Shadeen Malik is a senior lawyer at the Supreme Court and law teacher at Gono Bishwabidyalay
