The dangers of not verifying the foreign citizenship status of electoral candidates: An open letter to the Chief Election Commissioner

It has been argued in the past that the endorsement of a legal entity called 'dual citizens' in Bangladesh is in conflict with the spirit of the 1951 Citizenship Act of Bangladesh. 

While foreign citizens of Bangladeshi origin deserve to get privileges within bounds, beyond those received by other foreign citizens, they cannot be equated with those who exclusively express their loyalty to the Bangladesh state. 

Given the eligibility criteria spelled out in the country's constitution and the current interpretation of laws and rules of the country, it is understood that these foreign citizens of Bangladesh origin (FCBO) are not eligible to run for membership in the country's Parliament. 

Nor can they, if I am not wrong, hold certain constitutional positions. The Prime Minister had also pledged to uphold the constitution and ensure that there is no violation of its basic tenets.

Given this background, it was expected that all political parties would carry out background checks of their nominees to reduce the load on the Election Commission (EC). 

For individual candidates, as well as for additional checks on party nominations, the responsibility lies with the EC. 

The EC would have to seek assistance, in this regard, from Bangladesh's foreign missions, and on honest submissions from candidates and on (central bodies of) political parties who nominate them. 

In addition, information from the National Board of Revenue (NBR), the Bangladesh Bank (BB), the country's major intelligence agencies, and from the net, would come in handy in assessing 'foreign citizenship status' of a candidate.

Recent news covering candidates' claims and the EC's reported rejection of candidature on grounds of having foreign citizenship (commonly termed as dual citizenship) raise hopes as well as despair. 

The reported rejection of Shammi Ahmed, an Australian citizen (and Secretary of AL International Affairs Committee), an AL-nominated candidate in Barishal-4, suggests that the EC is taking a firm position on the subject. 

The social media, for obvious reasons, saw many criticising the EC stand. It is unclear if the candidate has appealed. If she had appealed, the outcome has not yet been made public. 

Another instance that came in the media is the appeal by AK Azad, an independent candidate for Faridpur-3 constituency, requesting the EC to cancel the candidacy of AL candidate Shamim Haque. 

It is alleged that Mr Haque holds dual citizenship of Bangladesh and the Netherlands. [Given the Netherlands is also known as Holland, the person concerned is locally known as Holly Shamim]. The outcome of Mr Azad's appeal is also not known.

Reading through the procedure followed in case of Mr Azad's appeal for cancellation of Mr Haque's candidacy, one is puzzled as to why the onus lies on the complainant to prove that a candidate is not eligible on grounds of having a foreign citizenship. 

Reportedly, the appellant had to provide evidence in the form of a photocopy of Mr Haque's foreign passport. 

If electricity payments, bank clearance on default status, income tax payment, etc are prerequisites that the EC handles in cooperation with other agencies, an affidavit from the candidate claiming that s/he is not a citizen of any country other than Bangladesh, should, at the least, be made mandatory. 

In the absence of strict measures to block the entry of illegible people, one apprehends that there are several other instances where 'citizens of foreign countries' (having had the opportunity to retain Bangladeshi citizenship as well), may have obtained EC approval to run in the elections, either by mis-reporting or not reporting it at all. 

Not all such incidents were reported in news media, thus allowing certain candidates to avoid disclosure in the national public eye. It is urgent that the EC takes up the issue and rectifies its actions to uphold the constitution, as has been asserted by the Prime Minister.

Violation of the constitution is an adequate reason for the EC to ensure that citizens of foreign countries are barred from running the parliamentary elections. 

Imagine the law-making body of a sovereign country (Bangladesh) is housed with (parliamentary) members who are citizens of other countries. 

A dangerous fall-out of such a situation is that the parliament could turn into a trading house of tenders, sought after by different business groups spread across all major colonialist rulers (the so-called advanced West). 

Clearly, this will increase the importance of counterpart trading houses in Washington DC (USA), London (UK), Sydney (Australia), several countries in Europe, and among persons with special visas in neighbouring countries (such as, Malaysia, Singapore and India). 

Such trading may continue till the country runs out of resources and the state becomes a 'failed' one! It may not be wrong to predict such a state, when FCBOs will depart en masse, the parliament will be in disarray, and the fencing of a territory will find justification. 

These alarms are being raised to draw the attention of the EC, who has the prime responsibility to prove that a proper election is better than no election. 

At the present stage of scrutinising candidature, the EC is earnestly requested to apply all feasible instruments to screen out wrong entries into the Parliament. 

As noted, an affidavit with a declaration of non-FCBO, is the first legal instrument to impose. There are a few other crude methods that the EC may consider at this later hour. Income tax lawyers in a select group of countries could provide important information, but they may be unwilling to lose their clients. 

Alternatively, each candidate may be asked to declare the last date of travel to or from a select group of countries (USA, UK, Australia, Canada, Germany, Holland, etc), and an authorised officer may check if the travel was undertaken with a foreign passport, or with a special visa (such as, PR or Green Card) in case of a Bangladeshi passport. This may also be supplemented by a check on the bank account of the candidate in Bangladesh. 

While time is running out, we do not want to see a new parliament filled with people who have the instruments to change colours and put the state in peril.

Dr Sajjad Zohir is the Executive Director of the Economic Research Group (ERG)

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and views of The Business Standard.