EC Formation: Another party rejects invite to dialogue
Islami Andolon Bangladesh yesterday rejected President Abdul Hamid's invitation to a dialogue on the formation of the next election commission.
Earlier, four other political parties -- BNP, Communist Party of Bangladesh and Bangladesher Samajtantrik Dal -- declined to have the talks, saying "it would be meaningless".
In a formal letter to the president, CPB said they held a dialogue with him in 2017 on the formation of a new EC.
"CPB has nothing new to say on the same issue by participating in another dialogue. That's why we don't see any necessity of joining [the talk]," the letter said.
Meanwhile, a faction of Gonoforum, led by Mostafa Mohsin Montu, yesterday urged Dr Kamal Hossain not to attend today's dialogue with the president, terming it "farcical and a drama".
This is the first time since 2012 that political parties refused the president's invitation for dialogues on the formation of the EC.
The talks with the registered political parties began on December 20 and, so far, eight political parties including the main opposition in parliament -- Jatiya Party -- have attended.
The five-year tenure of the current EC, led by Chief Election Commissioner KM Nurul Huda, will expire on February 14.
Till yesterday, President Hamid has invited 16 political parties.
According to the EC website, there are currently 39 registered political parties. However, only nine have representation in parliament.
Islami Andolon Bangladesh at a press conference in the party headquarters yesterday said they are rejecting the president's dialogue as they were disappointed with the past talks, in 2012 and 2017, regarding EC formation.
"The Election Commission, formed following the 2012 dialogue, organised unilateral elections in 2014 to reflect the will of those in power, in which 153 MPs were shown to be elected unopposed," said Rezaul Karim, ameer of IAB, in the briefing.
He added that in 2017, the EC, formed after yet another such dialogue, was responsible for a controversial and unacceptable election in 2018.
"These two national elections were so controversial and rigged that they have left us extremely frustrated and embarrassed as a nation.
"What is even more infuriating is that the president, who appointed the election commissioners, had not held the EC accountable for the scandalous elections. He did not take any action against the commission. As a result, the dialogue with the him seems meaningless to us."
The IAB chief also said none of the proposals they had earlier placed before the president in dialogues over holding a free and fair election were evaluated.
"He could not go beyond the interests of the party that elected him as president… People [already] think that the president's dialogue will not be fruitful. The previous talks have failed to meet the people's expectations and there will be no exception this time.
"Therefore, we do not consider it appropriate to take part in such a meaningless dialogue contrary to the aspirations of the people."
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