AL asks EC to resolve legal matters soon

Awami League (AL) yesterday demanded that the Election Commission (EC) hold the upcoming national elections with the previous constituencies if the commission failed to resolve within a week all complexities centring re-demarcation of constituencies.
It also cautioned the EC not to get the national elections hampered by complexities centring re-demarcation of constituencies.
"Resolve the issue within a week or hold the elections with previous constituencies. The candidates as well as the voters do not know their constituencies yet," AL acting General Secretary Syed Ashraful Islam told reporters after a two-hour meeting of the party Presidium.
The emergency meeting of the Presidium, the highest policy-making body of the party, was held at AL acting President Zillur Rahman's Gulshan home. The meeting was called for finalising the issues to be discussed with the caretaker government during the second round of talks tomorrow.
AL will submit its bank statement to the EC today. AL leaders Abdul Mannan Khan and BM Mojammel Haque will submit the statement around noon. The AL presidium endorsed the statement.
AL will place a set of demands including lifting of the state of emergency, withdrawal of all "false" charges against its president Sheikh Hasina, her unconditional release, and the deferral of the upazila elections before the government during the talks.
"We will point out the logic behind our demands," he said.
Re-demarcation of electoral constituencies, role of polling agents and television channels especially BTV during the national elections will also come up for discussion, he said.
"The dialogue with the caretaker government is very important. We hope the differences on these issues will be resolved through the discussion and all doubts centring the elections will be removed," he said urging the government and the EC to keep its door open for dialogues until election day.
Reiterating that the AL would not take part in any polls without Hasina, he said the elections would not be free, fair and credible without the participation of the AL chief and other political parties. He hoped that Hasina would be able to take part in the upcoming elections after being released unconditionally.
Ashraf said elections under the emergency would not be credible and some parties might not take part in the polls.
He said there is no need to keep the emergency enforced since the army, Rab, police and BDR personnel would be deployed to control the law and order situation during the elections.
Ashraf also asked the EC to examine the application form of Islamic Democratic Party (IDP) and see if the party was floated by leaders of the banned Islamist outfit Harkat-ul Jihad Al Islami, Bangladesh (Huji) and it met the criteria for registration.
He demanded that the government ensure Hasina's foolproof security, with the protocol of a prime minister, on her return to the country.
About the formation of a grand alliance, the AL leader said they have been continuing formal and informal talks with different political parties in this regard. The formation of a grand alliance would be finalised after Hasina's return.