EC may wrap up talks if BNP fails to unite

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The Election Commission (EC) may wrap up electoral reform talks with political parties without holding formal talks with BNP if the party fails to unite within the timeframe given to it to join the reform dialogue.

The EC is considering this option to overcome the crisis centring the nagging issue of talks with BNP so that it can proceed with the proposals for electoral reforms, EC sources said.

Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) ATM Shamsul Huda wants to remain rigid on the EC’s plan to send the reform proposals to the caretaker government at the end of this month no matter talks with BNP are held or not, according to sources close to the CEC.

In a last ditch effort to have a united BNP at electoral reform talks, the EC on Thursday held informal talks with both factions of the party separately. And it asked them to unite within three days to participate in the dialogue with it. The time frame expires today.

But the EC move, viewed as unprecedented, saw no headway as of yesterday regarding unification of BNP. Unless a dramatic development takes place, possibility of unity of the party factions by today or even tomorrow is slim, said a senior leader of the pro-reform BNP faction.

Against this backdrop, Election Commissioner Muhammed Sohul Hussain told The Daily Star yesterday, “We will have to take a decision by Monday or Tuesday if they [BNP] are not united [to participate in reform dialogue].”

On the informal talks held with both factions of BNP, Sohul said the EC wants a united BNP to attend reform talks with it.

The issue already delayed implementation of the EC’s electoral reform roadmap according to which dialogue with political parties was supposed to be completed between September and November last year. And electoral reform proposals were to be made laws in February this year.

The EC began dialogue with political parties on September 12 last year and had talks with 15 parties (except BNP) by November. It even completed the second round of talks with these parties in February.

Officials at the EC Secretariat said the EC does not want to see itself in a controversy again by inviting one faction of BNP to electoral reform talks as its earlier invitation to Saifur-led faction had triggered a spate of controversy.

Following Thursday’s informal talks with BNP factions, the CEC said the EC wants to sit with a united BNP.

A senior leader of pro-reform BNP said they would not object if the EC wraps up electoral reform talks now without sitting with them since it is necessary to have the reform proposals as laws soon.

The EC on November 5 last year invited Saifur-led BNP faction, ignoring objections from Delwar-led faction, which claimed to be the mainstream BNP.

Later, detained BNP Chairperson filed a writ petition with the High Court (HC) challenging the EC decision, and the court stayed it. The EC then suspended its November 22 talks with Saifur-led faction.

Finally, the HC discharged Khaleda’s writ petition on April 10, saying it does not have jurisdiction to resolve a political party’s internal disputes.

On the day, CEC Huda said the EC would informally initiate moves to resolve differences between the two BNP factions.

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