Bangladesh News

The much-talked about dialogue between the Election Commission (EC) and BNP takes place today, bringing down the curtain on the electoral talks that began last year.

Jamaat-e-Islami and Islami Oikya Jote (IOJ) too will participate in the discussions to be held separately at the EC Secretariat.

Bangladesher Jatiya Party (BJP), another component of the BNP-led four-party alliance, however did not get invitation to the dialogue scheduled to start at 10:30am.

BNP is joining formal talks with the EC for the first time since the caretaker government took over in January last year.

Earlier, the commission had taken a lot of flak for sitting with the party’s pro-reform faction while ignoring the ones loyal to BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia.

According to EC invitations, the meeting with Jamaat will get underway at 10:30am, BNP at 11:30am and IOJ at 2:00pm.

Party sources said Secretary General Khandaker Delwar Hossain will lead the BNP delegation. Chowdhury Tanbir Ahmed Siddiky, MK Anwar, Nazrul Islam Khan, Selima Rahman, Zainul Abedin, Abdul Mannan and Ruhul Kabir Rizvi might be the other members.

None of those who had once sided with the pro-reform group led by Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan has been included in the team to be finalised by the chairperson.

Talking to The Daily Star yesterday, alliance leaders said they will place some common proposals that include immediate lifting of the state of emergency, holding of parliamentary election before any other polls, and scrapping of constituency demarcation and changes in the Representation of the People Order (RPO).

They might also propose reinstating the provision that allows a person to be on the electoral roll anytime.

The parties will ask the commission to suspend registration of the political parties or follow the previous system in this regard.

Besides, they will propose that the EC cancel the provision of no-vote.

A committee led by BNP standing committee member Chowdhury Tanbir Ahmed Siddiky has already prepared a set of proposals.

Khaleda Zia okayed the proposals in consultation with party colleagues last night.

“I hope the proposals will reflect the party’s vision and mission,” Tanbir told The Daily Star, adding that their organisation will play a responsible role in the conduct of a free and fair national election to “bail people out of the present situation”.

“The constitution says a person can participate in election if he/she is a citizen of the country, but they [EC] say voter enrolment is a must for that,” he said, adding that this is a violation of the constitution.

He said the revised RPO contains contradictory provisions and as a responsible political party BNP will draw the EC’s attention to the matter.

About the registration requirement of severing ties with chapters abroad, Tanbir said, “If the countries where the Bangladesh expatriates live do not debar them from getting involved with politics back home, then why should we?”

To meet the criteria laid down for registration, the parties will have to amend their constitutions. But it requires holding national councils, and that is not possible for time constraints and lack of a congenial atmosphere, a BNP leader said.

According to the party sources, the BNP delegation will raise objection to the voter list ordinance.

Citing the EC’s “aim to ensure accountability within the political parties”, they will call for measures so the commission itself can be held accountable for what it does.

They will also ask the EC to explain some new provisions like the one that says ‘Commission has the authority to change a polling centre if it is controlled by any candidates’.

“How will they [EC] find out if a candidate is controlling a centre? A polling station being in front of a candidate’s house does not necessarily mean it is controlled by him,” a leader said.

Originally, September 7 was scheduled for dialogue with BNP and September 8 for Jamaat and IOJ. But the four-party alliance partners boycotted the talks and said they would not attend any dialogue if the ‘unconstitutional’ electoral provisions and rules are not scrapped.

However, things worked out in favour of the talks after the release of BNP chief Khaleda Zia on September 11.

BJP COMPLAINS
BJP Chairman Andaleeve Rahman Partho yesterday criticised the EC for not inviting them to the dialogue.

“We have been ignored though we had representation in last parliament, one of the criteria set for invitation,” he said at a press conference at his Baridhara residence.

“As a component of the alliance, BJP won four seats in the last election. But for reasons unknown, the Election Commission did not invite us. It however had no problem sitting with parties like Kalyan Party that never had representation in parliament,” he alleged.