The New Nation - Internet Edition

Bdnews24.com, Dhaka

The Election Commission is considering relaxing the proposed rules of registration for political parties, the chief election commissioner said yesterday. A final decision will be made when the second round of party talks has been completed, ATM Shamsul Huda told bdnews24.com.

A number of political parties, during the first round of talks, had asked the EC to relax the conditions of registration to create a suitable environment for the elections.

"Many political parties may have to change their constitution in line with the new registration regulations. They need time for that," the chief election commissioner said.

"We will allow them (the political parties) to register with the EC until the declaration of the election schedule, instead of the deadline of June, if necessary," Huda said. BNP vice president MK Anwar told bdnews24.com Thursday: "The conditions of the proposed rules of registration are very significant."

"It is not possible to implement them in a short time. Each party will have to change their manifestos to abide by the rules," Anwar said.

The EC is slated to begin its second round of dialogues with political parties from Feb 24.

Election commissioner M Sohul Hussain told bdnews24.com that invitations to the second round of talks may be sent out from Sunday (Feb17). "We will try to relax the registration conditions if possible," said Sohul.

The two main bones of contention for the parties are a requirement for 33 percent of central committee members to be women, and alterations to the administrative structure at the district and upazila levels.

"If most parties agree to implement the conditions in phases, the EC will relax them.

The legal reforms will be finalised in March," Sohul said. Awami League presidium member Matia Chowdhury told bdnews24.com Thursday that the EC is unnecessarily delaying the process.

"The EC was supposed to complete the electoral law reforms earlier. We want elections soon after the legal process has been completed," Matia said.

The EC's first round of dialogue covered 15 political parties and finalised the draft recommendations for reform of the electoral law.

Election commissioner Sakhawat Hossain said Saturday that the EC is waiting for a court verdict regarding dialogue with BNP.

"We will talk with them after the court decision," said Sakhawat.

The BNP was initially scheduled to dialogue with the EC on Nov 22, although the talks are yet to go ahead following a factional dispute within the party.

The main electoral laws under discussion in the first round of talks included the Representation of the People Order, 1972, the Code of Conduct for Political Parties and Candidates, 1996, and the rules regarding Registration of Political Parties, 2001.

Parties who have agreed to fulfil the newly proposed registration conditions have been invited for further talks, although there are over 100 political parties in the country.

The proposed conditions for registration include a requirement for a party to have won at least one constituency in any national parliament since independence.

A party should have gained at least 2 percent of the vote in the last national election and have steering committees and offices in at least half of the district upazilas.

All central and committee members must be elected either by direct or secret ballot after regular intervals.

No wing of a party may participate in a business organisation or academic institution.

No party may maintain an overseas office.

Parties must declare their sources of income and any foreign or domestic bank accounts prior to registration.

If a registered party merges with an unregistered party it may have its status revoked.

In the first round of dialogues, in apparent allusion to Jamaat-e-Islami, many parties demanded that unconstitutional parties should be declared unfit for registration.

Jamaat-e-Islami assistant secretary general Md Kamaruzzamn said the manifesto of Jamaat-e-Islami was not unconstitutional.

"We will bring change to the constitution through discussion if required, and in line with the proposed law from the EC . However, we have not discussed this at the party level," said Kamaruzzamn.