Polls 3 months before time

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday asked her party lawmakers to take preparations for the next parliamentary polls, keeping in mind that the election process would begin three months before dissolution of current parliament.
Terming the caretaker government system "unconstitutional", Hasina, also the ruling Awami League chief, categorically said her government would not go back to that "unconstitutional" system.
She was speaking at a meeting of AL Parliamentary Party at Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban.
Her statements reject the opposition's demand for restoring the caretaker system and clearly indicate that the constitution will not be amended again to introduce the provision for holding the parliamentary polls after dissolution of current parliament.
The latest constitutional amendment in 2011 introduced the provision for parliamentary polls within 90 days preceding dissolution of the House.
This means lawmakers of this parliament will remain in office when the next parliamentary elections will be held with the AL-led alliance still in power.
She told her party MPs the next general polls will be held anytime between October 24 next year and January 24, 2014, the lawmakers present at the meeting said.
"This time polls will be held three months earlier than the previous parliamentary elections," AL lawmaker Shahiduzzaman Sarker told reporters, quoting the premier as saying.
Also, AL MP Maj Gen (retd) Shubid Ali Bhuiyan said the premier urged them to take preparations for the next polls from now on.
Urging the MPs to be more pro-people, Hasina said she conducted a survey in all the parliamentary constituencies of her party's MPs engaging government agencies, party mechanism and other sources.
She said performance of 25-30 lawmakers is very poor and they risk winning the polls if held now, while another 25-30 MPs have fifty-fifty chances, meeting sources say.
The AL chief urged those MPs to work hard to make their records better.
"In the next polls, party nominations will be given on the basis of the survey results," an AL MP quoted Hasina as saying.
Relying on the survey, Hasina, however, said there is nothing to be upset now. "People are still with us," an MP said quoting Hasina as saying in the meeting.
In the December 29, 2008 parliamentary polls, AL alone bagged 230 out of 300 seats.
Each of the AL MPs present at the meeting was given a 19-page document containing detailed description of the government's success and activities in various sectors in last three and half a years.
The premier urged them to inform people in their respective constituencies about the government's successes.
She also urged them to speak about the government successes taking part in the discussion on the proposed budget for next fiscal year.
In response to the MPs' speech, the premier also informed them that in the proposed budget Tk 5,000 crore was allocated for educational institutions under Monthly Pay Order.
AL General Secretary and LGRD Minister Syed Ashraful Islam urged the MPs to behave well with the party's grassroots leaders and activists, meeting sources say.
"We have to be humble," a lawmaker quoted Ashraf as saying. The minister said only carrying out development activities may not ensure votes.
"Showing party leaders and activists pistol and handing over them to police cannot be accepted," said Ashraf without naming an AL MP who recently opened fire on a crowd.
A number of lawmakers, who spoke at the parliamentary party meeting, raised the issues of power crisis, prices of rice and enlisting educational institutions under MPO.
"We informed the prime minister about people's grievances at the shortage of power. Villagers are happy if they get power for eight hours a day. But they even don't get that," AL MP Abdur Rahman told The Daily Star.
Talking to The Daily Star, AL MP Amir Hossain Amu said he proposed not to give new power connections, but the prime minister rejected the proposal saying it will be an injustice.