BNP secretary general Fakhrul Islam Alamgir has said while passing remarks on the beginning of the dialogue on reconstitution of Election Commission (EC) that they have not yet been invited. “Let the invitation come and then we will make our decision regarding it”.
Fakhrul said this while talking to the Bangladesh Post over mobile phone on Monday.
Asked whether the BNP would take part in the dialogue if the party is invited for the dialogue, Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said that if his party is invited formally, they would hold a meeting of the party’s Standing Committee, the highest decision-making body of the party, and the meeting will take a decision on it.
“I myself alone cannot say anything about it,” he added.
It should be mentioned that President Abdul Hamid on Monday started the process of dialogues with the political parties over the reconstitution of the EC.
On the first day, the dialogue was held with the Jatiya Party (JaPa) as the party is the main opposition in the National Parliament.
An eight-member delegation of Jatiya Party (JaPa) led by party chairman GM Quader took part in the dialogue with the President at the Bangabhaban at 4:00pm Monday.
According to sources, gradually the President will hold talks with the registered political parties before the appointment of the new Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) and other commissioners. All the nine parties having representation in the parliament might be invited first.
The president is expected to hold talks with 31 out of 39 political parties registered with the EC.
The sources also said that after the Jatiya Party, the President is going to hold talks with Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (Inu) tomorrow (December 22), National Awami Party (NAP) and Samajtantrik Dal of Bangladesh on December 26, Tarikat-e Federation and Khelafat-e-Majlish on December 27, Workers Party of Bangladesh on December 28, Bangladesh Nationalist Front (BNF) and Islami Oikya Jote on December 29,
The dates for the dialogues with other political parties are yet to be scheduled.
It should be mentioned that the president has to form a new EC before the expiration of the tenure of the existing EC on 14 February 2022. The new EC will conduct the next national election.
According to the constitution, a law has to be enacted to form the EC, but the law is yet to be enacted even after 50 years of independence.
This is the third time that a political dialogue was being held with the President on regarding the reconstitution of the Election Commission.
For the first time, on December 22 in 2011, the then President late Zillur Rahman, held dialogues with the political parties, including the BNP, on the reconstitution of the Election Commission.
For the second time, President Abdul Hamid held a month-long dialogue with the political parties from December 18 in 2016 to January 18 in 2017. A total of 31 political parties took part in the dialogue at Bangabhaban in phases.
