Leaders of left-leaning 11-party alliance yesterday called on the government to announce a specific date of the parliamentary polls to remove confusion regarding holding of the stalled election.
They made the call from a meeting of its central executive body at the office of Workers' Party of Bangladesh with its President Rashed Khan Menon in the chair.
The leaders said although the government is hopeful about holding of the general election in the third week of December, Election Commission (EC) is lagging behind by three months from the timetable.
“The High Court order staying the demarcation of 88 parliamentary constituencies and some contradictory provisions in the Representation of the People's Order (RPO) has cast uncertainty over holding of the election,” says a press release.
It expressed grave concern over the failure of the anti-corruption drive, saying that the corrupt suspects and the miscreants would again return to the fields of elections.
The alliance demanded disclosure of the underhand dealings the government has made backstage before and after the release of the two leaders - Awami League President Sheikh Hasina and BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia.
Other demands of the 11-party alliance included withdrawal of the state of emergency, removal of barriers from political activities, holding elections as per the previously demarcated constituencies and stopping the use of religion, black money, communalism and terrorism in elections.
Alliance leaders Bimol Biswas, Nurul Islam, Pankaj Bhattacharya, Nurur Rahman Selim, Abdus Samad, Abu Hamed Shahabuddin and its Convener Zakir Hossain took part in the meeting.
The meeting also expressed its deep shock at the death of Workers' Party leader Shahinur Rahman Kamol in a road accident recently.