EC dialogue on polls: 18 out of 44 parties boycott talks

Staff Reporter  :
Ahead of the announcement of the schedule for the 12th parliamentary poll, the Election Commission on Saturday dived into the dialogue with all registered political parties with much fanfare, but 18 parties boycotted it.

The EC sources said that the dialogue has been orchestrated in order to know the opinions of the political parties and to inform the stakeholders about the Commission’s preparations for the upcoming election slated for early January.

According to the EC’s dialogue schedule, out of the total 44 registered political parties, 22 parties including Awami League had schedule to sit with EC in the Election Bhaban in the capital in the first half of the day.

But nine political parties, including Bangladesh Jatiya Party, Liberal Democratic Party, Kalyan Party, Communist Party of Bangladesh, Muslim League BML and Bangladesh Muslim League did not attend the programme.

However, Awami League, along with Islami Oikya Jote, Trinamul BNP and Bangladesh Jaityatabadi Awami party took part.

In the latter half of the day, EC had schedule to hold talks with the rest of the 22 parties, but again nine parties including, Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JSD), Bangladesher Samajtantrik Dal, Biplobi Workers Party, Islami Andolan Bangladesh refrained from the participation.

Out of the total registered political parties, 18 stayed out of the dialogue hosted by the Election Commission.

About the absence of the political parties, Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Habibul Awal said that the political parties were invited for the dialogue with a short notice.

“Some parties could not take part due to time schedule. If they want to sit with us, we would try to listen to them because we want to hear from all,” he said.

Awami League Presidium Member Lt Col (retd) Faruk Khan and Information and Research Secretary Salim Mahmud represented the party in the dialogue.

Soon after the meeting, Faruk Khan told the journalists that it was not written in the Constitution that BNP has to take part in the election.

“Many political parties in different countries do not vie for election.

The parties which do not have people’s support and trust in people, they would not join the election,” he said.

On the other hand, Bangladesh Congress demanded that people’s opinions be given the utmost importance to foster an environment conducive to hold a free, fair, impartial, and participatory election.

Trinamool BNP Secretary General Taimur Alam Khandkar told the media, “We are carefully assessing the situation to determine EC’s effectiveness before deciding on our participation in the upcoming election.”