4-party for scrapping RPO ordinance

The BNP-led four-party alliance yesterday demanded withdrawal of the Representation of the People Order (RPO) Ordinance 2008 that the government Sunday approved in principle, saying nobody would accept a decree "designed to control" political parties.
"It is an unethical, anti-people ordinance because only an elected parliament can bring amendments to the RPO," BNP Secretary General Khandaker Delwar Hossain said at a discussion at the Engineers Institution in the city.
Stating that the general election must be held according to the laws formulated by an elected parliament, he said the interim government has no mandate to introduce changes in the RPO.
The BNP would not accept any 'compromise formula' reached through secret understanding, he said.
Delwar asked the authorities to lift the emergency rules and hold the parliamentary elections first, and said it would not be possible to run the country through installing a rubber-stamp parliament keeping the BNP-led alliance out of the election process.
He alleged that the government's attitude towards the BNP is clearly discriminatory. He demanded the release of all political leaders including his party Chairperson Khaleda Zia, her two sons, Jamaat Ameer Motiur Rahman Nizami and Secretary General Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojahid.
Delwar threatened tougher programmes if the government failed to meet their demands by Thursday.
The BNP's standing committee member Chowdhury Tanveer Ahmed Siddique criticised the Awami League (AL) for agreeing to take part in the local elections.
Sarwari Rahman, Selima Rahman and Rizvi Ahmed of the BNP, Shamim al-Mamun of the Bangladesh Jatiya Party and Abdul Latif Nezami of the Islami Oikya Jote, among others, spoke at the discussion.