EC to invite all parties for talks on Nov 4

The Election Commission will sit with all registered political parties ahead of the announcement of the schedule for the upcoming parliamentary polls.

The move came amid a political stalemate over the polls-time government as Awami League and BNP are at odds over the issue.

The EC will sit with all 44 parties on November 4, EC Secretariat Secretary Jahangir Alam told The Daily Star yesterday afternoon.

The dialogue will be split into two halves as the EC will meet 22 parties in the morning and the 22 others in the evening.

Jahangir said the commission plans to inform the parties about the commission's preparations for the polls at the dialogue and will also listen to their recommendations, if they have any, regarding the election.

The EC is likely to announce the election schedule in mid-November and it is likely to be held at the beginning of January.

The commission will invite two top leaders or two representatives from each party for the dialogue, Jahangir added.

EC sources said they would start sending invitation letters to the parties today and that AL and BNP will be put in separate halves of the dialogue.

After a meeting with US envoy in Dhaka Peter Haas, Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Habibul Awal said the ambassador believes there will be a solution to the political tensions through talks among political parties.

"We also have a similar belief. We think that the political crisis will not be resolved by showing strength on the streets," he told reporters after the meeting at the capital's EC Bhaban.

Haas expressed his hope for all sides to engage in dialogue without preconditions in order to deescalate the prevailing tensions and find a pathway to a free, fair and peaceful election.

Speaking to reporters, he said, "Political violence by any side has no place in democratic elections.

"Any action that undermines the democratic elections process -- including violence, preventing people from exercising their right to peaceful assembly and internet access -- calls into question the ability to conduct a free and fair election."

Haas urged for transparency and accountability in the EC's constitutional role in arranging an election of international standards.

In March this year, the CEC sent a demi official letter to BNP, inviting it for an official or unofficial discussion on the polls.

"But the party didn't respond," an election commissioner said.