Funding by the state:Daily Star

The absence of public funding for political parties creates scope for private interest groups to influence polls outcomes and policy decisions of the government, an election monitoring alliance said yesterday. The Election Working Group (EWG) recommended introduction of state funding to political parties in the next general election to ensure transparency in campaign spending. “The absence of tran
sparency in financial transactions may lead to corruption, influence the election outcome and ultimately, could result in post-election poor governance,” the EWG said in a policy paper. The research styled “Bringing Transparency in Political Finance to Bangladesh” observed that quality of a government and efficacy of democracy could be damaged if there is no transparency in political parties and funding of candidates undermines elections. Presently, the political parties are allowed to collect electoral fund from various private sources. The platform also suggested the Election Commission makes mandatory the disclosure of campaign expenditures by the parties and candidates during electioneering; fix expenditure limit for parties and their chiefs; and specify the sources of private donations. Under the existing electoral rules, the party chiefs can spend an unlimited amount of money for electioneering and the parties do not need to disclose their expenditure to anybody. Advertisement Speaking at a discussion on the issue at CIRDAP auditorium in the capital, three leaders of the Awami League, BNP and Jatiya Party stressed the need for strengthening the EC for proper enforcement of electoral laws. Mahabub-ul-Alam Hanif, AL joint general secretary, said absence of national consensus is the main reason preventing politicians from establishing a democratic process. “We've no consensus among us. This division was created after the assassination of Bangabandhu in 1975,” he added. Osman Farruk, adviser to BNP chairperson, urged for an independent judiciary, EC, and non-partisan administration for proper democratic practice in the country. Demanding public fund for political parties, he said politics might be dominated by specific wealthy groups if there is no public funding. Jatiya Party presidium member GM Quader questioned the sincerity of the politicians about establishing rule of law, transparency and ensuring the accountability of the government. “We all only want to assume power and misuse it. This is the politics of Bangladesh now,” he mentioned. Presented by EWG Director Abdul Alim, the platform's policy paper included a comparison of expenditures by the candidates in the one-sided January 5 national polls. The election saw 153 candidates elected uncontested. According to the research, contestants of the election spent Tk 45.52 crore. Of the amount, AL candidates spent the highest Tk 24.55 crore. However, the Jatiya Party candidates had the highest average expenditure of Tk 17 lakh each. The Representation of the People's Order (RPO) stipulates that a lawmaker candidate must submit his election expenditure statement to the Election Commission within 90 days after the election.