Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) on Monday said clean and credible election under a partisan government is possible if all political parties and stakeholders play supportive and responsible role.
“The [national] election under a partisan government is a common practice in many democratic countries of the world. It can’t be said all elections held under the current government was unfair,” TIB executive director Dr Iftekharuzzaman said while speaking at a programme at TIB’s Midas Tower office in the city.
To ensure a fair and acceptable election, political parties have the most important role to play while it is also true that there is mistrust among people over holding the election under the partisan government, he said adding, “It can’t be said no fair election has been held under this government.”
During the programme, TIB revealed its analytical study on good governance and the integrity of election manifesto of the political parties.
Dr Iftekharuzzaman said there is a huge gap between the promises made in the manifesto of all political parties and their implementation which is not acceptable at all.
A lack of seriousness in implementing promises made in manifestos was found among the political parties after they got elected, he said urging the parties to include a report on how many promises they have implemented from their earlier manifesto in their next manifesto following a self-assessment.
The political parties must clearly state that what role they will play after winning the election and how they will contribute if they do not win the election, said Dr Iftekharuzzaman.
He also called for keeping government agencies such as Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) keep out of party and political influences.
Country’s legal structure to ensure good governance and integrity has become stronger over the last 10 years, but the main challenge is the implementation of those said the TIB Executive Director.
To avoid power concentration, he said, no party leader should become the government head.
At the programme, Shahzada M Akram, Senior Programme Manager of TIB Research and Policy presented the analytical study where he showed that almost all the political parties in their manifesto talked about establishing democracy and good governance and fight against corruption.
source: UNB
