The Election Commission thinks the real democracy is absent in Bangladesh and it is failing to discharge its duties fully under the present circumstances, BNP has claimed.
After a nearly three-hour-long dialogue on Sunday, the party’s Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir also told reporters that the commission officials had talked about their limitations at the end of the meeting.
The Election Commission held the dialogue at its office in Dhaka’s Agargaon with BNP on Sunday morning as part of its roadmap to the 11th parliamentary election, likely to be held between late 2018 and early 2019.
Chief Election Commissioner KM Nurul Huda, four other commissioners and other high officials were present at the meeting. Mirza Fakhrul led the 16-member BNP delegation.
The party, which former prime minister Khaleda Zia leads, submitted a 20-point proposal to the commission for the next election, with the demand for an independent and facilitative polls-time government as the main prerequisite.
Also Read- Facilitative govt demand tops BNP’s 20 proposals for next election
Fakhrul said the commission has assured them of evaluating their proposals. “Regarding the facilitative government proposal, they said they will try. They will sit and discuss to find out what they can do.”
Asked what they were expecting from the commission, he said: “They said they had limitations and were unable to carry out their duties fully in the country’s present situation.”
When reminded that the Election Commission has already asserted that they would not act as a mediator between the political parties, Fakhrul said, “No, they did not say that today. They said they will discuss among themselves and find what can be done.”
After the dialogue, the BNP leader said, they were a bit hopeful about the commission playing a positive role before and during the polls.
“We have urged them to create a level playing field for all parties and take steps to ensure the rights of all parties to hold meetings and rallies along with other political activities,” he told reporters.
The BNP delegation included Standing Committee Members Khandker Mosharraf Hossain, Moudud Ahmed, Jamiruddin Sircar, Tariqul Islam, Mahbubur Rahman, Rafiqul Islam Mia, Mirza Abbas, Gayeshwar Chandra Roy, Moyeen Khan, Nazrul Islam Khan and Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury.
BNP Advisory Council members ASM Abdul Halim, Ismail Kabiullah, Abdur Rashid Sarkar and Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi were also part of it.
The commission on August 24 started holding dialogues with 40 registered political parties to receive their opinions over its preparation for the next election.
So far, the commission has sat with 32 parties. The dialogue with Awami League is scheduled for October 18.
This article was first published on Bangla Tribune
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