Dhaka : A group of retired military officials in Bangladesh has come up with a comprehensive set of guidelines that aims to overhaul the state system that was functioning in Dhaka. In the proposal, the ex-offical asked Bangladesh’s new Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus, to stay in power for 2-3 years to facilitate the transition.
According to The Dhaka Tribune, under political reforms, the proposal pushed by retired officials aims to address longstanding issues of governance, administration, and societal inequality, that have grappled Bangladesh for decades. The group proposed a mixed electoral system combining the existing structure with proportional representation. The officials referred to it as the “Bangladesh version” of elections. One of the key reforms included abolishing the current “women’s quota” in elections which will allow parties to have their own discretion over the candidate list.
The officials asked the interim government to stay in power for 2 to 3 years to facilitate reforms and the elections should be conducted only after comprehensive reforms are completed, and corrupt individuals are removed from the political process. The body also called for the parliamentary term to be adjusted to 4 or 6 years with a scope of midterm polls. As per the proposal, the new parliament should consist of 500 seats – 300 based on constituencies and 200 allocated proportionally to political parties.
