BNP flip-flops on registration
Almost like an intriguing soap opera, BNP kept everybody in suspense last night regarding whether it will get registered with the Election Commission (EC) under the new electoral provisions, following an unscheduled meeting with the commission in the afternoon.
A four-member BNP delegation held a two-hour meeting with the EC in the afternoon and announced at 4:00pm that the party would get registered and contest in December 18 parliamentary poll.
But three hours later Vice-president MK Anwar, who had broken the good news to the media, made a somersault claiming the earlier announcement had been his personal opinion, not a party decision.
Just before MK Anwar's recantation, at a ceremony marking the founding anniversary of the Daily Amar Desh, BNP Secretary General Khandaker Delwar Hossain claimed what MK Anwar had told reporters earlier had been his personal opinion.
Party insiders said, MK Anwar was forced to withdraw his earlier statement under pressure from BNP's partners in the four-party alliance, especially from Jamaat.
Anwar was supposed to get the details of the relaxations on parties' registration criteria that the EC had promised to bring to the new electoral law, some leaders of BNP and Jamaat told The Daily Star.
BNP high-ups got annoyed as their alliance partners had been irked by MK Anwar's earlier statement, they said.
MK Anwar in a press conference in his Elephant Road resident at 7:00pm said if the BNP secretary general had claimed the announcement had been his personal opinion, the secretary general's statement must be official. "I should not say anything after his comment," Anwar commented.
"I made the comment to reporters after the meeting with the Election Commission, as the BNP chairperson after her release on September 11 had said that BNP will take part in dialogues and elections," Anwar said.
"I have nothing to say after Khandaker Delwar's comment in this regard," MK Anwar said adding his comment might create unnecessary bitterness.
Khandaker Delwar told reporters that they will make their position on the question public after discussing the matter with their alliance partners.
Awami League (AL) and Jatiya Party (JP) already said they will apply for registration by amending their constitutions after the Eid-ul-Fitr.
On Monday, the EC said it finalised a set of proposals for the government to relax the registration procedure and to bring a few other changes to the revised Representation of the People Order (RPO).
Talking to reporters after the discussions at the commission around 4:00pm, BNP Vice-president MK Anwar said, "We came to know what changes they are working to bring in the RPO."
"We reiterated that a free and fair election is not possible under a state of emergency."
At the meeting, the BNP side demanded that the EC defers the dates for upazila elections by at least a month. They said holding the national and local government polls in close proximity might jeopardise both elections.
Besides, they argued, issues like by-elections and re-polling might come up after the national election.
Anwar said the EC can declare the detailed schedule for upazila polls right now, but there must be a gap of at least a month between the two elections.
He said he hopes the political parties and the EC will soon reach an understanding on the matter.
Anwar, a former minister and a career bureaucrat, observed, "BNP is an election-oriented party. It will surely get registered and take part in the election in light of the proposed amendments to the RPO."
However, he added, their party has something to say about the electoral provisions and they communicated those to Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) ATM Shamsul Huda.
Asked if BNP will hold its council to bring reforms in its constitution, Anwar said they will submit a draft constitution for registration.
About the arguments against having too small a gap between upazila and national polls, the CEC told reporters that the EC had thought long and hard before settling on the poll dates. It has no confusion regarding the matter.
He said as they have two sets of ballot boxes, they will not have to depend on a single set for both elections, and it will save them at least 20 days in transportation of the boxes.
Besides, Huda added, the EC will print 24 crores of ballot papers in advance. The printing job will start once the candidates for upazila elections are selected. This too will save them much time.
He said, "The chief adviser wants to complete all elections before 2009, and we are working accordingly."
Asked about BNP's decision regarding registration, the poll chief said, "We hope that every party that we want will register with the commission."
According to new proposals of the EC, the political parties unable to hold national councils at this time to amend their constitutions can still get registered on meeting the criteria through provisional changes to their constitutions.
But their highest policymaking bodies must pass resolutions to have the amendments ratified at national councils within six months of the first session of ninth parliament.
On September 20, BNP and its allies told the EC that they will not accept the new electoral provisions being implemented in the upcoming parliamentary polls.
They demanded that the new laws and rules be scrapped or suspended till the national election is over.
As per the EC announcement, political parties must apply for registration by October 15.
The caretaker government last month promulgated an ordinance revising the RPO. The new provisions made registration mandatory for the parties to contest the general election.
The RPO stipulates a number of conditions for registration. Those include, among others, severing ties with front organisations and chapters abroad.
To meet those, most of the political parties need amendments to their constitutions which are usually not possible without convening national councils.
Major parties like AL, BNP, and Jatiya Party (JP) dismissed the commission's time limit for registration as impractical. They maintain it is not possible to organise councils to amend constitutions at such a short notice.
Against such a backdrop, the commission made the move to ease the registration process.
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