TY - JOUR
T1 - Revisiting the role of the President during caretaker government in ensuring credible free elections in Bangladesh
AU - Haque, Masudul
PY - 2011
Y1 - 2011
N2 - The holding of free, fair, and credible elections in Bangladesh remains a big challenge. In an effort to ensure credible, free and fair elections the Constitution was amended, known as the Constitution (Thirteenth Amendment) Act 1996. This provided some extraordinary powers to the titular President without mechanisms of proper accountability. This paper critically analyses the provisions of this amendment, particularly the role of the President. We argue that this innovation in holding election is itself unconstitutional. In the light of the experiences from the events leading to the declaration of emergency, the role of the President during the caretaker mode needs to be re-examined. It argues that formal provisions of the constitution through important but successful enforcement of constitutional provisions, including holding free and fair elections, largely depends on political culture and the willingness of the political parties, including civil society, to abide by those formal provisions along with their spirit.
AB - The holding of free, fair, and credible elections in Bangladesh remains a big challenge. In an effort to ensure credible, free and fair elections the Constitution was amended, known as the Constitution (Thirteenth Amendment) Act 1996. This provided some extraordinary powers to the titular President without mechanisms of proper accountability. This paper critically analyses the provisions of this amendment, particularly the role of the President. We argue that this innovation in holding election is itself unconstitutional. In the light of the experiences from the events leading to the declaration of emergency, the role of the President during the caretaker mode needs to be re-examined. It argues that formal provisions of the constitution through important but successful enforcement of constitutional provisions, including holding free and fair elections, largely depends on political culture and the willingness of the political parties, including civil society, to abide by those formal provisions along with their spirit.
UR - http://handle.uws.edu.au:8081/1959.7/539620
U2 - 10.2202/1932-0205.1365
DO - 10.2202/1932-0205.1365
M3 - Article
SN - 1932-0205
VL - 6
SP - 1
EP - 28
JO - Asian Journal of Comparative Law
JF - Asian Journal of Comparative Law
IS - 1
M1 - 9
ER -