Opposition stretches hartal by 6 hours as EC relaxes deadline

Playing a cat-and-mouse game, the Election Commission (EC) yesterday gave five more hours for submission of nomination papers for municipal polls and the opposition parties responded by stretching hartal by six hours on the day.

The Election Commission said returning officers would accept nomination papers from candidates till 10:00 on January 26 (Tuesday) instead of the usual 5 p.m. The decision, understandably, came to facilitate the work after the hartal hours.

BNP, JP, Jamaat and IOJ had earlier called a daylong, countrywide hartal that would have ended at 6:00pm.

The EC announcement prompted the opposition parties to go a step further. They decided in an emergency meeting that the hartal would continue till midnight.

The EC however kept date for scrutinising nomination papers and withdrawal of candidature unchanged - January 27 and February 3 respectively.

After the EC directive to the returning officers which came in the afternoon, leaders of the BNP-led opposition alliance met in the evening at the Minto Road residence of the Leader of the Opposition.

The hurriedly called meeting, chaired by BNP chief Khaleda Zia, decided to extend hartal hours till midnight of January 26 (Tuesday).

"The Commission decision clearly proves that it has adopted a deceitful strategy to foil the opposition objective," said BNP leader Anwar Zahid.

"The opposition response came in protest against such fraudulent means taken jointly by the government and the Election Commission, said Zahid, emerging from the meeting at 9:30 last night.

Kazi Feroz Rashid and Kamaruzzaman represented the Jatiya Party and the Jamaat-e-Islami respectively at the meeting. A third BNP leader Shamsul Islam was also present.

Chief Election Commissioner Mohammad Abu Hena could not be reached for comment.

The hartal was aimed to resist the election process, particularly to prevent aspirants from filing nomination papers.

The opposition parties have said they would not let the election take place without their participation, which depends on meeting their four demands, including resignation of the Chief Election Commissioner.

They also want the government to "stop repression" on opposition activists. The ruling Awami League has already rejected the demands.