ABDUL KHALEQUE  KHANDKER : The issue of proportional representation election or PR system of voting has been raised quite loudly since the interim government of Bangladesh took office. 

In this regard, Mr. Tajul Islam, a contemporary affairs analyst and the chief adviser of The Muslim Times, said that proportional representation elections or voting in the PR system are not timely in the current context of Bangladesh.

This voting system can bring more harm than good. Rather, accountability can be ensured if the representatives are elected through voting in a continuous manner. In the conventional method, people can choose the candidate they like by voting, by watching and listening to the candidate. It is easier for the electorate to understand the demands of the public from the representative of their area.

On the other hand, in the case of proportional representation election or PR system, the representative may be a representative of a different area than the one chosen by the people, to whom the public may feel reluctant to come and present their demands. The people will not understand him well and he will not understand the people of that area well. 

Mr. Tajul pointed out some other flaws of this method and said that the government formed by PR method of voting is not stable. Because no political party in Bangladesh will be able to achieve a single majority if voting is done in this manner. Effective democratic reforms are needed to prevent autocracy, not proportional representation.

Another major disadvantage of proportional system is that it can fragment the political system which is sometimes likely to cause political instability. Also, the party list system means that voters are removed from the electorate because political parties are given an important role while nominating candidates. Voters vote for a party. Seats are then distributed according to the candidate list as a percentage of the total votes received by the party.

On the other hand, proportional representation or PR is a system of electoral system in which seats are distributed in proportion to the number of votes received by each political party.

For example, if a party gets 10 per cent of the total votes cast, that party will get 10 percent of the parliament or 30 seats proportionally.

As per the percentage of votes a party gets in the elections, they will get seats in the parliament in that proportion.

According to some analysts, in this system every vote cast in an election counts and every vote is equally represented in Parliament. Moreover, seats in Parliament are allocated based on the number and percentage of votes cast in an election. It is possible to reflect the opinion of all the voters through this method of voting.

Taking the example of the countries in the world that are voting in this way, some analysts say that even if it is not started soon, Bangladesh can gradually walk the path of proportional voting.

In Bangladesh, various commissions have been formed to reform the state system including the electoral system. On the question of electoral reform, many political parties are also demanding proportional representation elections or PR system.


Recently, in a seminar on this, many political parties including Jamaat-e-Islami, Islamic Movement, Communist Party raised their demands in favor of proportional voting.


However, BNP, one of the largest political parties in Bangladesh, is opposed to this system and is in favor of the traditional parliamentary system of elections.


It may also be mentioned here that former President Hussain Muhammad Ershad once discussed this method for the first time. But at that time other political parties of the country did not show any enthusiasm in this matter. As a result, the matter stops here. Some political parties are expressing their enthusiasm for holding the next elections in the proportional system during the ruling interim government of Bangladesh. However, it will not be easy to suddenly change an election system that has been running consistently in such a short period of time. Because, the voters must first understand what this proportional voting system actually is.


Moreover, it may be questioned whether an unelected government has the right to make such a huge change. However, an elected government can decide whether this method is acceptable in the future or not through discussion in the parliament. So if there is to be a change in the electoral system then it will be brought about by the coming Jatiya Sangsad of Bangladesh, an elected government. Such changes by an unelected government are likely to be considered totally undemocratic. But having an open discussion about the matter is positive. Then the people will get a chance to understand the system beforehand.


In the current parliamentary election system of Bangladesh, political parties participate in the election by giving separate candidates to 300 seats.


Let`s say, in the current system, a total of four candidates from four parties are contesting for a seat in the national elections. 85 percent voting in this election.


Among them, the first, second and third candidates got 20 percent votes. And the fourth candidate got 25 percent votes.


According to the current system, only the fourth candidate will be elected as MP from this seat. And the 60 percent votes of those three parties are of no use.


Similarly, if the candidates of the fourth party win at least 290 constituencies across the country with the same rate of votes, then with only 25 percent of the votes, they will dominate the parliament with the formation of the government.


Although the remaining three parties got 60 percent of the votes, they did not have any representation in the parliament. It does not involve representative participation in Parliament. That is why some analysts are insisting on the consensus of the political parties of Bangladesh to hold proportional elections.