The New Nation - Internet Edition

Petrobangla stops supplying gas to old electricity plants: Country heads for massive power outage

Staff Reporter

Major parts of the country will plunge into darkness as the Petrobangla has begun cutting gas supplies to old and worn-out electricity generation plants to ensure more efficient use of gas, officials said yesterday. They said the decision to put fast depleting gas to better use was taken by the government two days ago, with implementation starting on Sunday.

"Gas supply to a state-run power plant near Dhaka with more than 100 megawatts capacity has already been stopped and the process will continue," said Jalal Ahmed, chairman of the state-run Petrobangla.

"So far we have identified 19 units which are very old and gas supplies to these will be snapped gradually to divert the gas to relatively new and efficient power plants," he said.

The country faces shortages of 250 million cubic feet of gas and up to 1,500 megawatts electricity everyday and the gap between demand and supply is rising, M Tamim, Special Assistant for the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, said on Saturday when unveiling the new policy.

Around 30 per cent of the country's more than 14 crore population have access to electricity, mostly in urban areas.

But the government recently decided not to supply gas, a major raw material for producing electricity, to new industrial ventures as the country's proven reserves of natural gas were dwindling fast, Petrobangla officials said.

Bangladesh has more than 100 power producing units with nearly 5,300 megawatt of capacity. But they barely produce 4,300 megawatt as almost one-third of the units are very old, the officials said. Some plants are up to 40 years old and their generating capacity has declined by up to 50 percent, they said.

An official of the Bangladesh Power Development Board (PDB) said delinking gas supplies to the ageing power plants would help divert the gas to more efficient units.

This will boost production by 50 percent in some plants, which currently produce 200 megawatts each, the official said.

Other officials, however, said the move might deepen the power crisis across the country, leaving more people in dark and causing voltage problems in areas still having electricity.

Due to the gas crisis, nearly 600 manufacturing industrial units in the port city of Chittagong have become almost inoperative and the government has ordered a two-year freeze of new gas connections in and around Chittagong city.

Flood unlikely this year

A vast area of Nayabari Union of Dohar upazila under
Dhaka district being devoured by the mighty river Padma.
Banglar Chokh

Staff Reporter

Despite higher than average rainfall since the beginning of the current monsoon season, the country is likely to escape major flooding this year, meteorologists said yesterday.

Weather experts at the meteorological department said they did not foresee heavy rainfalls posing a problem in the coming months.

"Analysing the meteorological data, we can say that there is very little possibility for a major flooding this summer," Arjumand Habib said.

The flood-prone country was severely affected by major flooding last year, which left 1.3 crore people marooned and more than 1,000 people dead.

Summer floods are common in Banglaesh as monsoon rains sweep the Indian subcontinent from June to September which, combined with Himalayan snow melting, feeds major rivers that run to the Bay of Bengal.

Last year's floods submerged more than 40 per cent of the country's landmass, damaging rice crops across a widespread area, which later contributed to a food crisis.

Arjumand Habib said heavier rainfall would result in better crops this year, helping farmers and easing the risk of a food crisis.

The government has targeted a record harvest of more than 1.3 crore metric tonnes of rice during the rainy season, up at least 30 per cent from last year.

The Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre (FFWC) is also optimistic that flooding will not pose a problem this year.

"We have 50 years of monsoon rains data. So far the monsoon is behaving most satisfactorily," said Saiful Hossain, chief analyst of FFWC.

Cherrapunjee getting drier

Agency

The town of Cherrapunjee, in the Indian state of Meghalaya, is reputed to be the wettest place in the world.

But there are signs that its weather patterns may be being hit by global climate change.

"Not without reason has Cherrapunjee achieved fame as being the place with the heaviest rainfall on earth," wrote German missionary Christopher Becker more than 100 years ago.

"One must experience it to have an idea of the immense quantity of rain which comes down from the skies, at times day and night without a stop. It is enough to go a few steps from the house to be drenched from head to foot. An umbrella serves no purpose."But according to Cherrapunjee's most renowned weather-watcher, Denis Rayen, the climate of the town is changing fast.

"In the days of the Raj, the British used to come here to the the Khasi hills to escape the heat - we are 4,823ft (1,484m) above sea level," he says.

"But today I am not sure they would be able to do that, because it is getting a lot hotter here and the monsoon is arriving later."

Official figures compiled by the Indian Meteorological Office in the nearby city of Guwahati back up Rayen's arguments that north-east India as a whole is getting hotter.

"The average temperature for Guwahati at this time of the year should be around 32C - but this year the temperature has been as high as 38C," said weather expert Harendas Das.

"It's too early yet to say precisely what is happening, but the evidence suggests that higher temperatures mean the whole area is experiencing less rainfall." Figures compiled by Rayen show that Cherrapunjee may struggle to maintain its position as the world's wettest place. Rainfall figures for 2005 and 2006 were below average.

"The average rainfall at Cherrapunjee during the last 35 years has been 11,952mm (470ins) and there were several years when it was substantially more than this," he says.

In 1974 it rained 24,555mm (967ins) - which Rayen says is "the highest recorded rainfall in any one place in any one year".

On 16 June, 1995, it rained a record-breaking 1,563mm (61.53ins) over a 24 hour period.

"But in 2005 and 2006 our yearly rainfall was well below the average. We could well be witnessing a severe change in our climatic conditions because of global warming."

While the annual rainfall for 2007 was back to normal, Rayen argues that the "pattern of delivery" of Cherrapunjee's rainfall is changing. In previous years, 98% of the area's rainfall was between March to October.

This year the rains did not arrive until June, and the reason for that he says could be man-made.

"During the last few years, I have seen the forests vanish in front of my eyes," said Rayen.

"A combination of global warming and intensive deforestation is taking a heavy toll in this, one of the most beautiful areas of India.

"Because it now rains heavily over a shorter time period, crops are destroyed and there is intensive soil erosion. The lack of woodland means that the water flows faster from Meghalaya into the Bangladesh delta, only 400km (249 miles) away."

Das says that parts of Meghalaya are "at risk from desertification" because of a combination of increasing urbanisation and industrialisation on the one hand and deforestation and shortages of ground water on the other.

"Because the capacity of the soil to hold water is lost, there is a real possibility that the wettest place in the earth may soon be facing water shortages," he says.

Doha round trade talk begins in Geneva: Trade in agriculture, industrial market access top agenda

Staff Reporter

The much-talked-about Doha round talks of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) began Geneva yesterday with an aim to make a breakthrough in the stalled Doha Round trade negotiations.

The focus of the talks will be on trade in agriculture and industrial market access, the two key issues that have eluded consensus since negotiations started in the Qatar capital of Doha in 2001.

In the week-long meeting, the ministers will try to reach agreement on the modalities of agriculture and NAMA (non-agricultural market access), which include the methods and formulas of subsidy and tariff cuts.

The United States yesterday said that it was prepared to cut farm subsidies to secure a global trade deal but called on big emerging countries like India, Brazil and China to play their part too.

The United States is ready to help bring the long-running Doha round to a successful close by cutting its trade-distorting farm subsidies -- a central goal of developing countries, US Trade Representative Susan Schwab said.

"To have a meaningful development outcome to this roundt we know that we have to secure meaningful new market access in agriculture, manufacturing and services and that is particularly true when it comes to the interests of the developing countriest," Schwab told a news conference.

Commerce Adviser Dr Hossain Zillur Rahman is attending the meeting with a 14-member delegation. Bangladesh will press the developed countries for allowing duty-free and quota free

market access of least developed country goods.

World Bank President Robert Zoellick has called the meeting "now or never" for the Doha round, which was launched nearly seven years ago with goals to cut farm subsidies and tariffs, and to help developing countries prosper through trade.

The talks, billed to last all week, also cover manufactured goods and services, areas where rich countries like the United States and the European Union hope to make gains that will help them sell politically painful farm trade reforms at home.

EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson described the World Trade Organisation talks as a "once in a generation" opportunity to reform agriculture and keep markets open.

It's very, very important. We will only have further trade liberalisation in the future, we will only have rising living standards for people around the world, especially in developing countries, if we get the decisions this week right," he told reporters as he went into the talks.

But the developing countries say the onus is very much on rich nations to make the necessary changes.

"Soaring fuel and food prices are a stark reminder of the continuing inequalities of global agriculture trade. Developed countries are today responsible for the greatest distortions in the global trading system," Egypt's Trade Minister Rachid Mohamed Rachid said.

The Doha Round, formally known as the Doha Development Agenda, was launched with the aim of reducing global trade barriers and help poor countries achieve economic development.

It has missed all previous deadlines for conclusion, mainly because of differences between developed and developing WTO member countries on agricultural subsidies and industrial tariffs.

Rich countries like the United States are under pressure to cut substantially its huge farm subsidies, which developing countries say are distorting world trade.

Developing nations also want greater access to markets in rich countries for their agricultural products.

In return, industrialised countries are demanding a better deal for their manufactured goods in developing markets.

WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy, in an informal meeting of the Trade Negotiations Committee, said that members are "within reach of a major step in our drive to conclude the Round this year". He could think of "no stronger spur for our action than the threats facing the world economy across several fronts, including rises in food prices and energy prices and financial market turbulences".

Sharply rising prices for food and energy, rapidly decelerating economic growth and instability in international markets have raised concern in all corners of the world, Lamy said in a statement.

"Striking a deal in the coming days would send a signal to the world that working together we can address these problems," he said.

Manmohan fights survival battle: Horse-trading to retain control

Reuters, New Delhi

India's parliament debated on a vote of confidence in Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's government on Monday that will decide the fate of a nuclear deal with the United States and could trigger a snap election.

The vote, due on Tuesday, is so close that several MPs who are ill may be flown or wheeled in from hospital, and others, in jail for crimes such as murder and extortion, have been granted temporary release.

If the Congress party-led government falls there will almost certainly be an election this year. It would also likely lead to the scrapping of the civilian nuclear agreement and throw economic policy into limbo just as inflation rises dangerously.

Arriving at parliament on Monday morning, Prime Minister Singh gave a "V" for victory sign.

"We will prove our majority on the floor of the house," he said, providing a boost to India's stock market, which is watching the debate nervously

The main 30-share BSE index ended the day up around 1.5 percent, but volumes were thin.

"Investors believe the government has a fair chance of pulling it off," said Sandeep Neema, fund manager at JM Financial Mutual Fund. "Nevertheless, there is an event risk, a major one. and people would rather wait than take a call."

The vote essentially pits the Congress-led coalition in favor of the deal against the communists and a coalition led by the Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The BJP says the nuclear deal limits India's ability to test nuclear weapons.

The nuclear deal would grant India access to foreign nuclear fuel and technology, unlocking billions of dollars in investment.

But the government's communist allies withdrew their support in protest, saying the deal made India a pawn of Washington.

A host of smaller regional and caste-based parties hold the balance in parliament. There has been a flurry of horse-trading in the past week that even included the re-naming of an airport to honor the father of one wavering member of parliament.

Numbers are in flux, but newspapers said the decision may come down to one or two votes in the 543-member house. Television channels said the government seemed to be marginally ahead but a handful of undecided lawmakers could still swing the vote.

"The problem is that money changes hands, dirty deals are struck and MPs do a volte-face nonchalantly," said political commentator Amulya Ganguli. "It's hard to predict when the race is so tight."

As the stormy debate raged, the mood on the government benches was upbeat, with MPs flashing victory signs, shaking hands and smiling. One opposition lawmaker privately conceded the government could "scrape through by five to six votes."

But weak party discipline, under-the-table deals and accidents such as MPs falling ill make the result very far from a foregone conclusion.

A government defeat would be a boost for the BJP, which has won a string of state elections this year against a backdrop of rising inflation and criticism that millions of poor Indians were not benefiting from the booming economy.

BJP leader L.K. Advani told parliament the government was likely to fall, but added the government would have to face elections next year even if it survives the vote.

"The UPA government today is like a patient in the ICU," he said, after protests from government benches. "Naturally the first question is: Is it going to survive or not?"

Advani said his party did not oppose nuclear cooperation or a strategic relationship with the United States, but said the deal in its current form made India "a subservient partner."

The parliamentary debate will be followed by an electronic vote, expected on Tuesday evening.

A week ago the government was confident of securing a majority with the support of the regional Samajwadi Party (SP), which replaced the communists as its parliamentary support.

Since then there have been signs of a rebellion in the ranks of the SP, making the vote tougher to predict.

"I think the government may be ahead by a whisker, but there is evidence of rumbles within the SP," said political analyst Mahesh Rangarajan. "The SP issue could trip the government up."

Corruption racket in BTTB busted

Staff Reporter

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) had detected huge corruption involving crores of taka in the transport sections of the Bangladesh Telecommunications Company Ltd (BTCL), previously known as Bangladesh Telegraph and Telephone Boards (BTTB).

The ACC Director General (Admin) Col Hanif Iqbal told the Commission's regular briefing that the anti-graft watchdog's special team constituted to investigate corruption in BTCL has unveiled massive corruption in transport allowance and repairing of vehicles and their fuel consumption.He said the ACC special team is mainly concentrating on these three areas at the moment and has found that crores of taka have been misappropriated since 2001-02 fiscal year till date.

On corruption in the name of transport allowance, Hanif said Tk 1.91 crore was shown spent for allowance in 2007-08. Of the money, Tk 65.85 lakh was disbursed and the remaining Tk 1.25 crore misappropriated through fake vouchers.

Similarly, Tk 2.26 crore and Tk 2.46 crore were misappropriated in 2006-07 and 2005-06 fiscal years respectively. The money misappropriated from 2000-2001 to 2004-2005 fiscal years is under investigation of the special team.

About corruption in repairing of vehicles, over Tk 30 crore was misappropriated in six years (from 2000-01 to 2005-06). For instance, it was shown that Tk 6.91 crore was spent in 2000-01 fiscal year on repair of 104 (now 81) vehicles of the BTCL headquarters. But, actually workshop bills were paid for only Tk 47 lakh and the remaining Tk 6.43 crore was misappropriated through fake vouchers.

In this regard, Col Hanif mentioned that in 2000-01 fiscal year Tk 6 lakh was spent on repair of each vehicle by which one reconditioned vehicle could have been bought.

The ACC special team also unearthed corruption in spending of fuel for the BTCL vehicles in the last eight years (2000-01 to 2007-08).

For example, it was shown that Tk 2.79 crore was spent on fuel in 2004-05 fiscal year. But, the ACC team found out that huge money was

spent showing fake destinations and spending excessive fuel. In some cases, it was shown that some vehicles consumed even 500-600 liters of fuel every month, though there is no provision of spending more than 200 liters for a car.

The team is investigating to find out as to how much money has been misused and misappropriated in this field.

When asked how many BTCL officials are involved in this huge corruption, the ACC director general parried the question. He told a questioner that all levels of staff are involved in the corruption.

Hanif said the special team formed to look into corruption in Education Ministry is questioning individuals, mostly retired ones, about Monthly Payment Order-related corruption.

Responding to a question, he said as per the existing law, retired officials could be brought under law.

Too many vehicles, poor driving blamed for road mishaps

Talha Bin Habib

The rapid increase in the number of vehicles, poor driving knowledge and improper traffic management are widely blamed for the recurrence of road accidents in the country, said experts.

Since 1990's the number of road casualties are increasing every year causing not only huge economic loss but also affecting victims psychologically.

In the year 1987 there were 1,521 road incidents that has increased to 3,419 in 2000. The figure showed 125 per cent increase.

Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) in its annual publication said in the year 2006 a total of 3,794 road accidents occurred all over the country that had claimed 3,193 lives and injured 2,409 persons.

It also said in the same year a total of 1,954 road accidents occurred in the capital city that had claimed 1,564 lives and injured 1,422 persons.

Economists of the country said the total cost of the road accidents in the country in terms of human lives, property damages, administrative and medical expenses is 1.5 per cent of GDP and three times the annual expenditure of the Roads and Highways Department (RHD).

The cost of traffic accidents is estimated at about $65 million in low and middle-income countries. The amount exceeds the total amount of development assistance received by these countries.

They said the number of road accidents is alarmingly increasing in the country due to absence of strict enforcement of traffic rules and regulations.

Unwillingness to use over-bridges or under passes by the majority of pedestrians and reckless driving of buses and trucks are causing regular fatal road mishaps in the country, they added.

They said that poor traffic management in the metropolitan cities and other places of the country and most vehicles preference not to obey the traffic signals were also contributing to the increase in the number of road accidents.

A study finding estimated that about 32 per cent of road deaths occurred to poor heads of households or spouses in comparison of 21 per cent for the non-poor.

The study indicated that the household income, food consumption and food production decreased following the road deaths of the poor people. On the other hand the impacts are 50 per cent less for the affluent people compared with the poor.

When asked on the prevention of growing number of road accidents, a high official of traffic police department said necessary steps have been taken to check the frequent road accidents in the country.

Increasing number of motorised vehicles such as cars, buses, microbuses, trucks, auto-rickshaws, jeeps, taxis and motorcycles are also responsible for the high number of road accidents, he admitted.

In 1990 the total number of motorised vehicles on the road was 2,21,526, which has increased to 4,27,156 in 2000.

Road safety remains an area of major concern not only because of the economy but also the impact on the poor, said a leading activist of 'Movement of Safe Road' organisation.

Strict enforcement of traffic laws and regulations, creating mass awareness, giving proper education to vehicle drivers and adoption of modern technology for road designing and maintenance of safety standards could significantly reduce the number of road accidents.

OMS starts 2 weeks before Ramzan

Staff Reporter

The Government will introduce Open Market Sales to offer rice at cheap prices among the poor people two weeks before the holy month of Ramzan.

Speaking to reporters at the Food Ministry yesterday, Food and Disaster Management Secretary Mollah Wahiduzzaman said, OMS programmes would start two weeks before Ramzan following the guidelines of the Chief Adviser.

The OMS price of rice per kilogram has not yet been fixed. "But the Ministry will soon hold a meeting to decide on the price," he said.

The Chief Adviser had suggested starting Open Market Sales at least 10 days ahead of Ramzan, which is expected to begin on September 3, Waheduzzaman added.

The secretary said the OMS programme would run six days a week through 7,169 dealers across the country. It was three days as in past OMS programmes. The three-kilogram grant of rice per person will remain the same, but the total number of beneficiaries will rise to over 12 lakh from around 8 lakh in the previous programmes. Asked about what amount of rice was being set aside for OMS programmes, Waheduzzaman said it would be two lakh tonnes, but the amount would be increased if necessary as had been done in the past.

He said in the first phase of the programme, 50 trucks would visit target areas. Those with a high concentration of day labourers, RMG industrial areas and slum areas will be brought under the OMS programme to start with, to be expanded throughout the country in later phases.

He said, "The Government will ensure supply of rice among the low income people at a cheap price ahead of Ramzan."

Economic Zone Ordinance '08 approved

BSS, Sylhet

The Council of Advisers on Monday approved in principle the Bangladesh Economic Zone Ordinance-2008.

The approval was given at a meeting of the Council of Advisers held at local circuit house with Chief Adviser Dr Fakhruddin Ahmed in the chair.

It was the third meeting of the Council of Advisers held outside Dhaka.

The meeting also approved the EPZ Workers' Association and Industrial Relation (Amendment) Ordinance 2008.

Besides, the Council, after holding a threadbare discussion on the development of Sylhet division, announced a 12-point package programme aiming at ensuring overall development in the Sylhet region.

Under the package, a special economic zone and a labour court would be set up in Sylhet for economic development and expansion and modernization of tea industries in the division.

On the other hand, Sylhet Development Authority and a special committee/cell would be formed under the package programme for coordinating development activities in the haor areas.

The other progammes of the package are- taking steps for flourishing tourism industry in the Sylhet region, building up coordinated network at district and divisional levels with the upazilas dominated by expatriate Bangladeshis, taking special measurers for expansion of education including women education, taking measures for development of communication network and solving electricity problems, ensuring food safety by cultivating barren lands in Sylhet, setting up shooting academy at Sylhet Rifles Club and establishing re-fueling station at the Sylhet M A G Osmani Airport.

Advisers and special assistants to the Chief Adviser attended the meeting. The Cabinet Secretary, Press Secretary to the Chief Adviser and secretaries concerned were present.

Obama meets Iraqi PM in Baghdad

Agency

US Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama has met the Iraqi prime minister on his first visit to Baghdad as part of a major foreign tour.

Obama has advocated pulling out US combat troops within 16 months if elected president in November.

Earlier, in Kabul, Obama said the battle against terrorism had to focus on the situation in Afghanistan.

However, US commanders, and some members of the Iraqi government, are opposed to setting any timetables.

Obama held talks with Prime Minister Nouri Maliki shortly after arriving as part of a US Congressional delegation.

He is also due to meet President Jalal Talabani as well as the top US military commander in Iraq, Gen David Petraeus, and others.

While advocating the withdrawal of combat troops, Obama says he is prepared to be flexible on details, and could leave some troops behind for special tasks, such as training Iraqi forces and tackling remnants of the al-Qaeda in Iraq group.

The Illinois senator is visiting a series of countries over the next week in an attempt to bolster his foreign policy and security credentials.

He is also due to visit Jordan, Israel, Germany, France and the UK.

No details were immediately available of Obama's talks with Maliki. The two met in Baghdad's heavily-protected Green Zone, the seat of the Iraqi government.

Bigwigs make beeline for bail

UNB, Dhaka

A host of petitions from high-profile politicians and businessmen facing corruption charges was placed before the High Court yesterday either for bail or quashing the graft cases filed against them by the Anti-Corruption Commission.

Court sources said as many as 30 petitions from the top brass of major parties like Awami League, BNP and Jamaat appeared on the cause list for hearings before a Division Bench of Justice Sharif Uddin Chaklader and Justice Emdadul Huq Azad.

Among those in the queue are ex-PM Sheikh Hasina, now abroad on parole for treatment, Abdul Jalil, undergoing treatment in Singapore, Sheikh Fazlul Karim Selim, Eng Mosharraf Hossain, Salman F Rahman, Mirza Azam, AKM Rahmatullah, Lotus Kamal and Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah of Awami League, BNP's M Shamsul Islam, Mirza Abbas, Lutfozzaman Babar, Barisal Mayor Majibur Rahman Sarwar and reformist BNP leader Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan and Jamaat leader Abu Taher.

But the hearings on the pack of petitions could not take place today as the just-appointed Attorney General, Salahuddin Ahmed, prayed for adjournment to scrutinize the petitions.

The Attorney General told the bench that he could not yet look into the piled-up petitions case by case.

The court held back the hearings up to next Sunday.

A leading counsel for the petitioners, Barrister Shafique Ahmed said if any change is brought to the court in the meantime in the form of reconstitution of the bench or taking away its jurisdiction, then the Supreme Court Bar would take a "serious stand against it for the sake of establishing the rule of law".

Citing past experiences, Barrister Shafique, also president of the Supreme Court Bar Association, said, "We do not want to see the repetition that had tarnished the image of the highest judiciary and eroded people's trust and confidence in the highest court."

Of late, he observed, the Supreme Court is trying to redeem its image and prestige through dispensation of justice, "albeit independently".

The bigwigs are making beeline for bail or getting their cases quashed following a number of bails or stays on trial proceedings against the high-profile persons, including former ruling politicians, booked under the unassailable emergency rules.

Local govt polls: CEC dismayed by quality of candidates

Staff Reporter

Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Dr ATM Shamsul Huda yesterday expressed his disappointment over what he said insufficient number of quality candidates in the ensuing local government elections to four city corporations and nine pourasabhas.

"We are disappointed since there is not many qualified candidates in the city corporation and pourasabha polls as we expected," he said while talking to reporters at his office yesterday.

The CEC, however, hoped that the situation would improve during the ensuing upazila and national polls.

He said all concerned, including political parties, need to contribute to this process through nominating acceptable candidates and the general public should also come up with good candidates.

"Those who are good candidates should also come forward to play a role in this regard," he observed.

The CEC said there was no lack of publicity to inspire good people to come up, but the overall result has failed to meet the expectations.

He said the Commission expects that more professional and enlightened persons having administrative experiences would come forward to contest the city corporation elections.

Terming the ensuing local government elections as non-partisan, the CEC said the country's good people could have availed of the opportunity, but they did not.

The CEC expressed happiness over broader compliance of candidates with the election rules.

Mentioning that there are a number of allegations like submitting nomination papers by identified terrorists and corrupt people providing wrong and incomplete information in the affidavits he said steps would be taken against them immediately.

Replying to a question on the demand for publication of information about the candidates, he said it was not possible to make information public.

The CEC, however, said the Commission is gradually publishing information about the candidates finally nominated.

AL won’t accept polls before JS election: Tofail

Staff Reporter

Awami League (AL) presidium member Tofail Ahmed yesterday demanded parliamentary election ahead of other polls and immediate withdrawal of emergency to restore democracy in the country.

Tofail reiterated the demand while addressing the party leaders and activists as chief guest at a meeting organised by the Motijheel Thana Awami League at Mahbub Ali Institutions at Shahjahanpur in the capital.

"The Government has usurped all rights of the people. They have proved their incompetence in all sectors. The unendurable price hike of essentials is a result of the Government's lack of skill to run the country," Tofail said.

He urged the Government to refrain from arranging upazila elections under the emergency and warned that AL would be compelled to boycott polls, if it is held under the state of emergency.

He also demanded the unconditional release of party chief Sheikh Hasina.

AL central Organising Secretary Saber Hossain Chowdhury said, "The Government should create a congenial atmosphere to hold the national elections in a fair and credible manner through lifting of emergency."

He urged the Government not to take Sheikh Hasina as a problem creator but to accept her as a problem solver.

AL would never participate in the national polls without Sheikh Hasina, he pointed out.

Golam Ashraf Talukder, President of Motijheel thana Awami League, presided over the meeting while MA Aziz, Acting President and Advocate Kamrul Islam, Acting General Secretary of Dhaka City Awami League, among others, spoke.