Politicians only want changes that will lead them to power: Badiul

Politicians want only changes that will lead them to power and they do not want changes that will create equality and fairness, said Badiul Alam Majumdar, the head of the Electoral Reform Commission, today (11 May).

"We are trying to create consensus through change. We are working to develop laws and systems to prevent the return of autocracy. We have made recommendations on issues that need attention to change the factors that create autocracy," he said at a roundtable in Dhaka.

The roundtable titled "Spatial planning for urban and rural development: Agenda for reform towards transition", which was the second day session of the 4th International Conference on Urban and Regional Planning (ICURP) 2025, was hosted by the Bangladesh Institute of Planners (BIP) at CIRDAP.

Badiul said, "Proposals have come from political parties suggesting that there should be an upper house in the parliament, but they want their representation in the upper house to be the same as in the lower house."

"What reform would that achieve? Most agree on increasing women's seats from 50 to 100, but they want the process to remain the same as it is now. Currently, women's seats are obtained through nepotism and bribery," he added. 

Noting that no reforms will work if the environment becomes uninhabitable, the head of the Electoral Reform Commission said the government, the general public and all stakeholders need to be more conscious about the environment.