Dialogue with President: JP to push for EC formation law tomorrow
The Jatiya Party will emphasise enacting a law on the formation of the Election Commission during its dialogue with President Abdul Hamid, the party leaders said.
From tomorrow, President Abdul Hamid would hold dialogues with the country's registered political parties over the formation of the next EC.
On the first day, President Abdul Hamid is expected to sit with the JP, the main opposition in the parliament, at 4:00pm, according to officials of the Bangabhaban.
The series of dialogues is planned to be completed within 15-20 days, they said.
Talking to The Daily Star, President's Press Secretary Joynal Abedin said the president would sit with Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (Inu) on December 22 at the Bangabhaban after one day's recess.
The rest of the registered political parties would be invited for dialogues gradually, he added.
Several political parties, including components of the ruling Awami League-led grand alliance, said that the dialogue with the president is nothing but a formality as they said nothing new will come out.
Top leaders of several political parties, wishing anonymity, told The Daily Star that the last two ECs were formed through the dialogue and search committee.
There is no opportunity of creating any exception this time, they said.
BNP is yet to take a final decision on participating in the dialogue.
Party insiders, however, hinted that BNP may not join the dialogue as they were aware of the fact that the EC would be formed as per the will of the ruling party.
The next parliamentary election will be held under the new commission that will be formed through a search committee formed by the president.
As a result, under whom the next election is taking place and how the commission will be formed -- these issues have become important to different political parties.
It is widely believed in the political arena that in the previous two phases (in 2012 and 2017), the EC was formed mainly with the people of the ruling Awami League's and its allies' choice.
It is believed that this time too it will not be an exception. As a result, the dialogue with the president is nothing more than a formality, commented different political parties.
Asked, Jatiya Party Chairman and deputy leader of the opposition GM Quader yesterday said while holding dialogue with the president they would give importance on the formation of law.
GM Quader said apart from this they would urge the president to strengthen the EC in line with the Constitution.
Talking to this correspondent, JP Secretary General Mujibul Haque Chunnu said the JP top leaders would hold a meeting today on finalising the party's course of discussion while meeting the president.
He said an eight-member JP delegation, led by the party's chairman GM Quader, will lead in the dialogue.
According to sources, in the invitation letter sent by the Bangabhaban, the dialogue with different political parties has been termed as "view exchange meeting".
The president is going to hold the dialogue as the tenure of the current EC under the leadership of Chief Election Commissioner KM Nurul Huda expires on February 14.
This is for the third time the president of the republic is holding discussions with registered political parties ahead of appointing a search committee to recommend names for election commissioner posts.
Hamid, in December 2016, held a similar dialogue that resulted in the KM Nurul Huda-led EC that gained huge controversy for its failure to hold a free and fair election at national and local levels.
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