Not only elections, but also structural reforms are necessary in democratic transition: Badiul Alam Majumdar

Dr Badiul Alam Majumdar, head of the Election Reform Commission, has saud that elections should not be enough to ensure democratic transition. According to him, legal, institutional and structural reforms are essential to institutionalize democracy.

He made the remarks at a roundtable discussion titled 'Fair Elections and Democratic Transition: Citizen Perspective' at the CIRDAP auditorium in the capital on Tuesday (December 2).

Badiul Alam Majumdar said that even though several elections in the past were considered fair and impartial, those could not play an effective role in the country's democratic transition.

He blamed the 'corruption' of the electoral system and the entry of incompetent and 'bad-character' people into parliament as the reasons.

He also said that major corruption takes place due to the politicians, a class of bureaucrats and businessmen, who are making the political arena even dirtier. Deep reforms are necessary to change this situation.

The roundtable meeting was chaired by Shujan vice-president retired Justice MA Matin. Political scientist Professor Dilara Chowdhury, photographer Shahidul Alam, election expert Jasmine Tuli and others also spoke.