Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Habibul Awal yesterday said they were in crisis over holding the next general election with two major political parties divided over taking part in it.

If the BNP refuses to join the parliamentary election, it won't be participatory and acceptable, and the commission doesn't want to see a "play staged in the name of election", the CEC said as he sat with four political parties as part of a series of dialogues. 

The Election Commission opened the talks on March 13 to seek recommendations from a cross section of people on how to hold a free and fair general election.

Three political parties -- Revolutionary Workers Party, Khelafat Majlis and Bangladesh Islami Front -- while taking part in the talks at the EC office yesterday urged the commission not to use Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) in the next general election.

Workers Party and Khelafat Majlis also called for formation of a neutral polls-time caretaker government.

CEC Awal said the polls may take place in late December 2023 or early January 2024.

"A major political party already decided that it would not take part in the election unless an election-time government is formed. From the commission's side, we consider it a crisis," he said at the meeting with the Revolutionary Workers Party in the afternoon.

"If one of the major political parties does not participate in the election, in our view it won't be acceptable."

He requested the political parties to reach a consensus so that the election becomes a participatory one, and said the commission wants the BNP and its like-minded parties to take part in the election.

Workers Party General Secretary Saiful Huq said over-enthusiasm regarding EVM has raised questions about the motive of the EC as the ruling party also wants the voting machine be used in the national election.

He also asked how the EC would deal with all MPs of an aggressive government during the parliamentary election if it could not rein in a lawmaker during the recent Cumilla City Corporation polls.

He castigated the CEC for his comment made at Sunday's talks that "if someone stands with a sword, you will have to stand with a rifle or sword".

In response, the CEC said he made the comment symbolically and jokingly.

About the allegation raised by Saiful that the electoral system has been destroyed, Awal said, "Not only the electoral system but also politics and many other things have been ruined."

The CEC also said, "Make me the election commissioner of Australia or the United Kingdom, I will be able to conduct elections easily. It's very difficult to hold elections here. There is money power at play in politics here -- how can we control it?"

Earlier in the day, Awal at the meeting with Khelafat Majlis said there were "doubts" centring on the election as the BNP and some other like-minded parties have decided not to participate in it.

He said the commission is ready to hold the election but considers that if the BNP does not participate in this election, its goal to hold an inclusive election will not be achieved.

The BNP's issues on how the election should be conducted could be addressed by sitting with other parties, especially the ruling Awami League, and reaching a consensus, he added.

At the meeting with Islamic Front in the morning, Awal said the BNP should establish through movements and discussions what it wants. "The EC doesn't want to see any play staged in the name of an election."

Islamic Front proposed cancelling a mandatory provision of keeping 33 percent positions in all committees of a party reserved for women as all parties cannot ensure it.

Bangladesh Sanskritic Muktijote, another political party, proposed that the ministries of public administration and home should be brought under the EC during the polls.

Khelafat Majlis recommended keeping local government, public administration, defence, home and finance ministries under the EC during the election. 

Muktijote also proposed forming a Jatiya Parishad comprising all registered political parties and that Parishad would be in charge of the government during the election.