At the national level, with the ninth parliamentary elections ahead, Bangladesh has had eight such elections, three presidential elections and three referendums since its independence. Many of these elections were sham, heavily rigged and invalid. Of course, the fifth, seventh and eighth parliamentary elections enhanced democratic credibility and generated hope among the voters about establishing democracy in Bangladesh. However, the lingering political unrest, mistrust and uncertainties stand out to be serious limiting factors for establishing democracy in Bangladesh. It is in this context that Bangladesh awaited the ninth parliamentary elections scheduled for January 2007 and then rescheduled for December 2009.
There are many conditions that shape the fledgling politics and democratic institutions of a country like Bangladesh. The free flow of information is one such condition that can be strengthened by research, documentation and investigative reporting on politics, candidates who contest in the elections, irregularities that take place during election times in violation of electoral laws, code of conduct, and so on. With this in mind the Society for Environment and Human Development (SEHD) updated and published the third edition of The Reporter's Guide: Handbook on Election Reporting (in Bangla and English, the latter piggybacked with an update)
The handbook [first published in 1995 and then in 2001] has turned out to be a useful guide for reporters, election monitors and researchers.
The handbook [with 19 chapters] includes practical guidelines for election reporting at different stages; essential background information on elections in this country, which can be helpful in writing analytical reports; thumbnail sketches of the laws and opinion polls concerning elections; coverage of elections in the electronic media; annexes on the containment in the constitution about the non-party caretaker government, code of conduct for the political parties and candidates; list of the constituencies with the winners and runners-up in the 2001 elections; names and contacts of the major political parties, and a list of election maladies that generally occur in the Indian elections that may be comparable to our situation.
The handbook also puts together relevant contacts and their telephone numbers that may be helpful for reporters and election observers to quickly locate different sources of information.
Contributing writers: Mr. Ataus Samad, Prof. M. M. Akash, Prof. Sakhawat Ali Khan, Dr. Hossain Zillur Rahman, Mr. Obaidul Huq, Mr. Richard Galpin, Mr. Farid Hossain, Dr. Subrata Shankar Dhar, Mr. Philip Gain, Ms. Q. A. Tahmina, Mr. Shishir Moral, Mr. Muniuzzaman, Mr. Manik Saha, Ms. Khadiza Khanam, Ms. Shanjida Khan Ripa, Mr. Alimul Hoque and Mr. Abdur Razzak Khan.
Note: The English 3rd edition of the handbook published in December 2006 (the ninth parliamentary election was first scheduled for January 2007) was piggybacked with an update published in December 2008 before the elections held on 29 December 2009. A new writer contributing to the update is Mr. Burhan Uddin Ahmed. The new chapter is Laws Regulating Elections in Bangladesh. The Bangla edition published in 2008 accommodates the information contained in the English update.
Edited by Philip Gain (3rd edition, English, Bangla and update)
English PBK 380 pages, December 2006
Bangla PBK 346 pages, 2008
Price (English and Bangla): Tk. 300 US$15
Update: English PBK 90-page, 2008
Price: Tk.100 US$5
First and second edition published 1995 and 2001
Edited by Philip Gain, Q A Tahmina and Shishir Moral
Limited copies of 1st and 2nd editions are available
