EC will wait sometime for BNP’s reply: Alamgir

Staff Reporter :
Election Commissioner Md Alamgir on Wednesday said that the next parliamentary polls will not be acceptable without big parties’ participations.
He made the remarks on Wednesday at his office in Nirbachan Bhaban in capital Agargoan area while replying to the journalist
if big political party like Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) will not participate in next jatiya Sangsad Election then will be it accepted or not?
He said we will try our best to bring all registered political party in next parliamentary election to participate. Time will say it will possible or not, he added.
The commissioner said: “We have 40 registered parties and if all the parties who get registration participate in the election this year, we will call it participatory election. But the reality is that in the history of our country, all the parties have not participated in any election. Therefore, those elections cannot be said to be non-participatory”.
He said: “Not all parties participated in the 1970 elections. Some parties opposed the election. Therefore, it cannot be said that the election is non-participatory if one or two political parties do not participate”.
EC Alamgir said we will wait for a while for the reply to the informal letter (DO) sent to the BNP.
Replying to the journalists over what the EC would do regarding the BNP not joining the elections, he said that a discussion would be held in this regard.
He said: “Our job is to make everyone participate in the elections and have a peaceful election. The task of the commission is to elect all the registered parties. That is why the Election Commission will do everything that is required in the constitution and law”.
In response to the BNP’s claim that the EC will not be able to conduct fair elections, Alamgir said: “Each political party has its own opinion. We would take our responsibilities as sincerely as possible”.