Bangladesh News

Chief Adviser Fakhruddin Ahmed last night declared that the much anticipated ninth parliamentary election will be held on December 18 this year, and the polls to upazila parishads will be held in two phases on December 24 and 28.

Addressing the nation, the military backed caretaker government chief said the Election Commission (EC) will announce the detailed schedules for both polls at an appropriate time and the state of emergency will be relaxed for electioneering.

“No more there can be any doubt over the polls. I firmly believe we are moving towards holding the elections with participation of all political parties,” the chief adviser said adding, “The two leaders of the two major political parties have already declared participation in the polls.”

He said relevant rules and regulations of the state of emergency will be either relaxed or suspended to facilitate electioneering, so the elections can be held in a lively atmosphere with spontaneous participation of all.

All major political parties have been persistently demanding that the state of emergency be lifted before the national ballot.

“The government will not hesitate or step back from doing whatever is needed for holding free and fair elections. Our pledge and determination will be implemented in light of the national aspirations,” the chief adviser said.

With the chief adviser’s announcement yesterday, long-drawn debates and speculations over the polling dates for the parliamentary and upazila parishad ballots came to an end, meeting the political parties’ demand for holding the all-important national ballot first.

During the third round of electoral talks with the EC since September 6, almost all political parties including Awami League, BNP, Jatiya Party and Jamaat-e-Islami strongly opposed the commission’s previous plan for holding the upazila elections in October before the national poll.

The parties also demanded a specific date for the parliamentary poll.

“To avoid any obstacle or confrontation in the journey towards democracy and to show respect to the request of the majority of political parties the Election Commission decided to hold the parliamentary election first,” the chief adviser declared.

Keeping a request of the caretaker government, the EC on August 25 had decided to hold polls to 125 upazila parishads out of a total of 482 on October 23, and to another 125 upazilas on October 27, while it had also decided to hold Dhaka City Corporation election on October 30.

But, the political parties’ vehement opposition to the plan forced the government and the EC to change their position.

“Keeping in mind spontaneous aspirations of the people about local government elections, upazila elections will be held immediately after the parliamentary election,” the chief adviser asserted yesterday.

Analysing the sequence of the announced polling dates, political analysts said the long over due local government polls are also likely to be held before the tenure of the caretaker government ends.

In their instant reactions, senior leaders of the political parties lauded the chief adviser’s latest announcement regarding the polls, and his government’s and EC’s change of heart regarding the sequence of holding the polls.

Fakhruddin Ahmed, who assumed the post of chief adviser on January 12, 2007, following the declaration of the state of emergency, said he had declared that his firm objective was to hand over power to an elected government through a free and fair election, for establishing democracy on a firm footing in the country.

Referring to the responsibilities of the caretaker government, the chief adviser said his government has been working to create a level playing field for the elections since its beginning.

He also said the government held talks with the parties twice. “We had talks with the chiefs of the two major political parties. Both leaders have already announced participation in the polls,” said the chief adviser, who left Dhaka last night for New York to attend the United Nations General Assembly, after he had delivered the address to the nation.

The eighth parliament had been dissolved on October 27, 2006 and according to the constitution the ninth parliamentary election was supposed to be held within the next 90 days.

The ninth parliamentary poll had been originally scheduled for January 22 last year, but a grave political crisis involving massive level of street violence prompted the president to declare the state of emergency on January 11, 2007 suspending the scheduled national ballot.

The High Court (HC) on May 22 this year in a verdict said the EC had violated the constitution by not holding the general election within the stipulated 90 days since dissolution of the last parliament.

It, however, accepted the commission’s decision to hold the long-stalled ninth parliamentary poll in December this year, considering it reasonable enough in the context of the changed reality.

Amid growing uncertainties regarding the fate of the stalled parliamentary poll, Fakhruddin Ahmed on May 12 this year in an address to the nation declared that the general election will be held in the third week of December.

Earlier, on July 15 last year, the EC in its electoral roadmap had announced that the voter list with photographs will be completed by October this year and the parliamentary poll must be held by the year end.

The HC on May 22 in a verdict expressed its astonishment at the fact that the chief adviser, not the EC, had declared the tentative date for the national election while leaving it to the EC to fix the exact polling date.

The HC judges said in their observation that they had not found any provision in the country’s constitution that empowers the chief adviser to make such an announcement.

Yesterday before addressing the nation over the state-owned radio and television, the chief adviser met the EC in his office.

The meeting examined the laws of the land to see whether the chief adviser is allowed to announce the dates for the polls, and found that there is no legal bar on him doing so, meeting sources said.

Last week, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) ATM Shamsul Huda however said the chief adviser would not announce the dates for the polls, rather he himself would announce the dates on Monday in line with the law.

Even moments before leaving the EC Secretariat premises for the Chief Adviser’s Office yesterday afternoon, the poll chief told reporters that he would announce the dates for the polls in a day or two.

Full text of chief adviser’s speech