Bangladesh News

Chairman of the Chittagong Hill Tracts Regional Council Jyotirindra Bodhipriya Larma, also known as Santu Larma, yesterday said the political environment of the hilly region is not suitable for holding a free, fair and credible election.

Following an hour-long meeting with Awami League (AL) President Sheikh Hasina yesterday at her Sudha Sadan residence, Larma said they discussed the present political atmosphere of the hilly region and the current political crisis in the country.

Larma said, “I told her [the AL chief] that a suitable atmosphere to hold a free and fair election in the hill tracts is not prevailing.”

He said they focused on the present political crisis during the meeting with the AL chief.

Expressing his concerns over the voter list, Larma said many fake voters were enrolled on the list in Chittagong hill tracts. “The enrolling of voters was not done properly in the hilly region,” he added.

The three hilly districts — Rangamati, Khagrachhari and Bandarban — witnessed two decades’ of insurgency before a peace deal was signed in 1997.

Larma, who also heads the regional political party Parbattya Chattagram Jana Sanghati Samity, said he favours the removal of Chief Election Commissioner MA Aziz to end the current political stalemate.

“The present political stalemate should not continue, it is not good for the country,” he added.

When asked if his party would join the AL-led 14-party alliance, Larma said no such issue came up during the meeting.