The New Nation - Internet Edition

Staff Reporter

The second-round of dialogue on electoral reforms concluded yesterday with the Chief Election Commissioner Dr ATM Shamsul Huda assuring the political parties that the general election will be held within December this year.

On the concluding day of the five-day dialogue with the political parties, the Election Commission (EC) yesterday held dialogue with Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), Islami Oikya Jote (IOJ) and Krishak Sramik Janata League (KSJL).

LDP President Col (Retd) Oli Ahmed, IOJ Chairman Muftee Fazlul Haque Aminee and KSJL President Bangabir Kader Siddiqui during their separate meeting with the EC urged the government to take steps for debarring the war criminals from contesting the polls.

"We request the government to debar the war criminals from contesting the polls because we know who the war criminals are since there is a list of them prepared in 1972," Oli Ahmad said.

He admitted that it was a failure of all, including the freedom fighters, who were in the previous governments, including himself, for letting the war criminals go unpunished.

KSJL President Bangabir Kader Siddiqui asked the EC to directly disqualify acknowledged war criminals from elections instead of waiting for a court order.

He said Jamaat-e-Islami is recognised as a party formed by the anti liberation-war forces and war criminals. "Why should they receive political recognition?" Kader Siddiqui questioned.

On the demand for disqualifying the war criminals he said the EC in its draft proposals has already proposed that war criminals should be put on trial in court."

"No convicted candidate can contest in the elections," he said.

About the apprehension whether the polls would be held in time, the CEC told the delegations that he did not want to talk about it anymore as he answered this question a thousand times.

He categorically said he is determined that the elections would be held in accordance with the roadmap announced by the Commission earlier.

The apprehension will go once they start holding the city corporation elections, the CEC said.

The three parties asked the EC for announcing a tentative date for the forthcoming general elections and lifting the ban on indoor politics and withdrawing the state of emergency.

Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Dr ATM Shamsul Huda presided over the dialogue while Election Commissioners- Mohammad Sohul Hussain and M Sakhawat Hossain, among others, were present.

During the dialogue the LDP and KSJL neither supported the demand for banning the religion-based political parties from contesting the polls nor opposed it. On the other hand, the IOJ delegation, led by Muftee Fazlul Haque Aminee, strongly advocated for religions-based politics.

The EC discussed the outcome of its first round of dialogue with the parties on the proposed electoral reforms.

Asking the Commission to announce a tentative polling date by October 15, the LDP President said people, businessmen, politicians as well as government officials would become election-oriented by the time and help the economy get stabilised.

He said the LDP is not saying that a religious person cannot enter politics, but war criminals and religion-based parties are not the same thing.

The KSJL leader criticised Jamaat-e-Islami for its choice of election symbol and said, "In the Quran the scale is the symbol of justice and truth, as well as a religious symbol." He proposed the EC to cancel the use of scale as an election symbol.

Emphasising the need for holding dialogue with the BNP he said it would be a total failure of the Commission if it could not hold dialogue with BNP. He also suggested holding dialogue with both the factions of BNP.

Responding to them the CEC said the matter of holding talks with BNP is pending court verdict.

The EC began its second-round dialogue on electoral reforms dialogues with political parties on February 24.