People won't accept a 'spineless' EC

BNP senior leaders yesterday warned that the people will never accept if a “spineless” and “subservient” election commission is formed again.

“We want to believe that the president took the initiative of holding dialogues with political parties sincerely. We hope he'll form a neutral search committee which will constitute an impartial Election Commission,” BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said.

He said this at a discussion arranged by BNP at Mohanagar Natya Mancha in the capital marking the 81st birth anniversary of BNP founder Ziaur Rahman.

“The people of the country will not accept if a spineless and subservient election commission has been formed again,” he said.

“The president has said political parties should engage in dialogues. But unfortunately the prime minister has turned it down,” he said adding, “We don't know whether the president's relation with the government has gone sour.”

President Abdul Hamid on Tuesday urged all the political parties to hold talks among themselves for having a credible general election.

There is no alternative to having a neutral election commission for democracy, and all political parties along with the government should come forward and play a strong role in holding a fair general election, he said.

The president held talks with political parties on December 18 over formation of the new EC as the tenure of the current Commission expires in February.