Parliamentary election and electoral violence in Bangladesh: the way forward

Abstract

The paper has examined the 10th national election held on 5 January 2014 and the violent incidents took place during, before and after the election in Bangladesh. Violence-free competitive, fair and credible national election is a prioritized issue in the politics and governance discourse in Bangladesh now. In this paper, releventliterature has been reviewed first for conceptual understanding. Then investigated to explore the causes and outcomes of violence took place centering the tenth parliamentary election in Bangladesh. And finally, prescribed for the possible way forward to overcome this crisis. The paper is descriptive and qualitative in nature and based on secondary sources of materials. Since it focused on a particular country and issue relating to the electoral violence of a particular national election in Bangladesh, it is a case study too. Most of the information and data have been used from published documents like journal articles, books and newspaper reports. Relevant information collected also from online sources. The electoral violence may happen for various causes yet the significant cause is the motive of the incumbent for picking up power over and again. Similarly, lack of cooperation of political parties, negligence and domination of ruling parties over opposition are also responsible for electoral and political violence before, during and after the election. In addition, violation of human rights, rule of law, and finally, the poor governance of Bangladesh is experiencing due to the lack of meaningful democratic government, strong political will, and consensus among all political parties. The main limitation of this research is the lack of financial supports to collect empirical data from concerned stakeholders through field visit. The paper deals with an urgent issue of Bangladesh which is essential for a free, fair and credible election. To make the EC an independent institute a law should be enacted for recruitment of CEC and other commissioners of EC as per Article 118(1) of Bangladesh Constitution. To find out neutral and impartial CEC and other members of EC a search committee is very essential and for constitute a search committee, a law also should be enacted by the Parliament. Therefore, it would be very helpful for electoral and legal reform to overcome the problem of electoral violence in Bangladesh. The paper would be helpful for policy makers to revamp the existing drawback of electoral policies and practice in Bangladesh. For a meaningful and effective Parliament, it would be necessary. The paper would be essential for the future scholars and researchers of this area to use as reference. Finally, the academicians and readers will find their food in the field of politics, administration and governance.