Photo: Bonik Barta The current government has formed six commissions as a
preliminary step for state reform. These commissions will work on reforming the
Constitution, Judiciary, Election Commission (EC), Public Administration,
Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), and Police Administration. In a speech to the
nation on Wednesday, Interim Chief Advisor Dr. Muhammad Yunus announced this
decision and revealed the names of the heads of these six commissions.
Dr. Muhammad Yunus said, "Dr. Badiul Alam Majumdar
will serve as the head of the Election System Reform Commission, Safar Raz
Hossain will lead the Police Administration Reform Commission, Chief Justice
Shah Abu Naim Mominur Rahman will head the Judiciary Reform Commission, Dr.
Iftekharuzzaman, Executive Director of Transparency International Bangladesh
(TIB), will lead the Anti-Corruption Reform Commission, Abdul Mueed Chowdhury
will head the Public Administration Reform Commission, and Dr. Shahdeen Malik,
a lawyer at the Supreme Court, will lead the Constitution Reform Commission.
Dr. Yunus said, "We feel the need for constitutional
reforms to ensure the representation and interests of people from all levels of
society and to reflect the message of the July popular uprising. We have
decided to form six commissions as an initial step towards these reforms. We
have appointed six distinguished citizens to lead these commissions based on
their subject-specific expertise. We will continue forming additional
commissions for other matters as needed."
The Chief Advisor stated the reasons for forming the
commissions: "It is entirely unacceptable to impose the dominance of a
majority or misrule on people under the guise of elections or to concentrate
all power in the hands of a single individual, family, or group. We are
considering reforms to the Election Commission and other related institutions
to prevent such concerns. Reforming four institutions related to the election
system—the police administration, public administration, judiciary, and
Anti-Corruption Commission—is essential for ensuring free and fair
elections."
According to the head of the government, the names of the
other members of these commissions will be decided after discussions with the
commission heads. He also mentioned that the advisory council members,
representatives from student, labor, and public movements and representatives
from civil society and political parties will be present at the commissions'
discussion and advisory meetings.
Chief Advisor Dr. Yunus expressed hope that the
commissions will officially begin their work on October 1 once fully
constituted. He stated, "We expect this process to be completed within the
next three months. Based on the commissions' reports, the government will organize
consultation meetings with the major political parties for the next phase. In
the final stage, a comprehensive consultation involving student communities,
civil society, political party representatives, and government officials will
be held over three to seven days. This will finalize the outline of the reform
proposals and provide an idea of how these proposals will be implemented."
