EC initiates fresh move to enrol expat Bangladeshis

The election commission (EC) has once again taken an initiative to enlist 10mn expatriate Bangladeshis as voters in the ensuing 11th parliamentary election so that such a large number of people, who contribute tremendously to the national economy, can exercise their voting rights, sources in the EC said. They said the last two ECs had also taken such initiatives, but attempts did not bear fruit due to different reasons. The present EC initiative comes in line with the demand from various quarters, including political parties, the civil society and the media, to bring expatriates to the poll ambit by ensuring that all expatriates can vote staying at the countries they are staying. The quarters made the demand during the recently concluded dialogues with the EC.To implement its plan, the EC this time seeks co-operation of foreign, home, expatriate, and labour and employment ministries, the department of immigration and passport, and the Bangladesh Overseas Employment and Services Ltd (BOESL), sources said. The EC will hold a meeting in this regard within a month. But before that, experienced field officers of the EC will hold a separate meeting, the source said.The national identity (NID) registration wing of the EC recently submitted a draft copy of the proposal before the EC to bring expatriate voters to the poll ambit. But the EC turned down the NID wing’s proposal, saying the matter is not in the jurisdiction of the EC alone.The EC, therefore, asked for holding a meeting to go forward with the NID wing’s plan involving stakeholders concerned.The draft proposed that a separate EC desk be opened in the Bangladeshi embassies across the world. These would help expatriates become direct Bangladeshi voters by using their permanent address on the passports. The draft also proposed that local server stations should be set up in the embassies, giving priority to the countries in which the number of Bangladeshi workers is high.Saidul Islam, director general, NID registration wing, said, “We are very conscious about expatriate Bangladeshis. We need the coordination of different ministries to make them voters and ensure that they can vote.”Abdul Baten, director (operations), NID, said, “The EC could not accept the proposal to bring expats to the poll ambit because the EC alone cannot do it. Different ministries are involved here. So, the EC has directed that the experienced field officers should hold a meeting to make a draft copy for the proposal.” “Besides, a meeting will be held with the participation of the foreign, home, expatriate, and labour and employment ministries and the passport department. The decision to make voters of the expatriates would be finalised following their recommendations,” he added.“The expatriates should get voting rights as they are contributing to the country’s economy. Some 10 million citizens are living abroad. They should be brought under the voting system, no matter where they are currently living,” election commissioner Shahadat Chowdhury said.“It’s a huge task. The EC alone cannot introduce it. We need the opinion of all our stakeholders, including the political parties. Holding a manual voting abroad would be difficult as the expatriates live scattered. So, online voting can be introduced for them. Above all, we need the opinion of all before its introduction,” he added.He also said that nothing has been finalised yet and that a seminar can be held in this regard to get opinion from all stakeholders.“The voting system should be changed as technology is changing fast,” he further said. Sources said the EC has the jurisdiction to issue NID cards to all citizens of Bangladesh and the expatriates are no different. But the home ministry has expressed its desire to take charge of registering foreign voters using the EC database.The EC has turned down the home ministry’s proposal and asked for devising ways to bring the huge number of expats to the 11th parliamentary poll, they said.Earlier, former chief election commissioner Shamsul Huda had taken the initiative. Two of the commissioners had also visited the United Kingdom to gather experience. But the initiative failed in the face of criticism from different quarters.Later, the EC led by Kazi Rakib Uddin had revived the initiative to bring expatriate Bangladeshis to the election ambit. The commission had wanted to collect biometric information online but it could be materialised for various reasons.Although the incumbent EC, led by Nurul Huda, wants to materialise the initiative of his predecessors, he wants to do it involving stakeholders concerned even if it takes some time. “One thing is clear that the EC does not want to allow anyone to use the data preserved in the NID server to register expatriate voters,” an EC official said.