Talks on EC to go nowhere: Mirza Fakhrul

BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on Saturday said the ongoing dialogue on the reconstitution of the Election Commission (EC) will turn out to be a pointless exercise since it is being done as part of the government’s various fresh tactics to cling to power again.

“The current government has again started resorting to various tactics to hang onto power. The President is holding talks…many political parties have already boycotted it saying clearly that it won’t bear fruits,” he said.

Speaking at a human-chain programme, he also said the current dialogue initiated by the President is pointless since the Election Commission has nothing to do to ensure credible voting if there is no impartial government in place during the election period.

The BNP leader said the government must completely free Khaleda Zia and hand over the power to a neutral government to ‘restore’ people’s voting rights and overcome the country’s political ‘crisis’.

Once the polls-time government is established, he said it will form an impartial EC to hold a credible national election. “This is our clear message and this is the only way to resolve the crisis.”

Nari O Shishu Odhikar Forum, a platform of BNP, arranged the programme in front of the Jatiya Press Club, demanding BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia’s treatment abroad.

President Abdul Hamid began talks with registered political parties over the formation of the new Election Commission on December 20.

The President has already invited 28 parties to join the talks at Bangabhaban. But BNP, Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB), Bangladesh Samajtantrik Dal (BSD), Islami Andolon Bangladesh,Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JSD-Rob) decided not to join the talks.

Fakhrul urged the political parties to get united for the ‘restoration’ of democracy and people’s voting rights in the country.