‘EC to do whatever needed to hold free polls’
Helal Uddin Ahmed, acting secretary of the Election Commission, today said that they would take necessary steps to meet the proposals of different political parties for holding the next general election in a free, fair and inclusive manner.
“We got many suggestions including army deployment, stopping muscle power, using black money in the polls. We will play a role from behind the screen to meet most of the common proposals,” the EC acting secretary told reporters after holding a meeting with two political parties at the commission office.
Ahmed said the two political parties suggested the commission for taking initiatives to the deployment of army with magistracy power during the polls.
Responding to a query, Ahmed said, “Commission has cleared its stance that it has nothing to do in dealing with the political issues like withdrawal of cases lodged against the politicians.
“Rather, the Election Commission will do whatever it is needed to hold a free and fair election,” he added.
BML for polls-time caretaker govt, army deployment
Bangladesh Muslim League (BML) suggested the Election Commission for dissolving the parliament after announcement of the election schedule and formation of a caretaker government ahead of the next general elections.
The party also proposed for army deployment 30 days before and 15 days after the elections, reports our correspondent quoting Julfikar Bulbul Chowdhury, general secretary of BML.
The EC held talks with BML at the EC Secretariat this morning as part of its move to discuss possible electoral reforms with the country’s political parties ahead of the next parliamentary polls.
A 10-member delegation of the party, led by its President AHM Kamruzzaman Khan, participated in the talks and presented its 11-point proposal to the EC.
The party also demanded the EC to ensure level playing fields at least a year before the elections and withdrawal of all the political cases at least three months ahead of the elections.
Meanwhile, a 12-member delegation of Khelafat Majlish led by the party’s General Secretary Abdul Kader is participating in talks with the EC with the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) KM Nurul Huda in the chair this afternoon.
The meeting began at the EC Secretariat around 3:00pm, reports our correspondent.
A total of 40 registered political parties will take part in the dialogue which will take place in different phases.
Already the timeframe of the dialogue with 12 political parties has been fixed.
The EC’s dialogues with political parties kicked off on August 24 by holding talks with Bangladesh Sangskritik Muktijot.
Earlier, the EC also held talks with civil society members, editors and senior journalists in this regard.
Most civil society members during talks with the Election Commission on July 30 spoke for restoring “no vote” system and ensuring a level-playing field for all political parties to hold the next election in a free, fair and participatory manner.
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