Apart from the main opposition BNP and its allies, the partners of the Awami League-led 14-party alliance disapprove the Prime Minister’s outline to hold the next general election without dissolving the current parliament and the cabinet.
Talking to UNB on the issue, a number of leaders of the 14-party leaders said the Prime Minister’s outline does not ensure a level-playing field for all political parties contesting the polls.
The leaders said they will take up the issue at the upcoming meeting of the 14-party alliance scheduled for September 10 and hope that the impugned matter will be resolved in the forthcoming parliamentary session to pave the way for a level-playing field for all the stakeholders.
They said it is imperative to ensure a congenial atmosphere for acceptable and inclusive polls. If it is important to ensure the participation of all parties, the issue whether parliament will be dissolved or remain in place can be settled through discussions.
The ruling alliance leaders also hoped that the current political deadlock would be resolved through holding discussions between the top political parities- BNP and Awami League.
According to Workers Party president Rashed Khan Menon, MP, parliament must be dissolved before holding the national election or else there will be no level-playing field for all.
Asked whether his party will take part if parliament remains functional during the election, Menon said, “Still, there’s time … it’s just the beginning… I do believe it’ll get resolved through discussions.”
He mentioned that he earlier had raised the issue in parliament that it would not be possible to hold the polls without dissolving parliament.
Workers Party general secretary Anisur Rahman Mallick said it is not possible to hold the parliamentary polls keeping parliament in place as the Representation of the People Order (RPO) does not permit it.
General secretary of Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JSD) Sharif Nurul Ambia said the first thing is to create a congenial atmosphere to hold the general election.
“It’s not sure till today whether the main opposition BNP will take part in the polls or not. The issue whether parliament will be dissolved or not can be settled through discussions taking BNP into confidence,” he added.
NAP general secretary Enamul Haque said there are some issues to be discussed over the matter. “We’ll discuss the Prime Minister’s outline in the next meeting of the 14-party.”
He also said the present parliament has to be dissolved to ensure equal advantages for all the political parties.
Samyabadi Dal general secretary Dilip Barua, also the Industries Minister, said it is not the right time to comment in this regard as this is not last word. “Let’s see what happens in negotiations,” he added.
Ganotontri Party general secretary Nurur Rahman Selim said there is no scope of holding election keeping parliament functional.
Communist Kendra joint convener Asit Baran Roy underscored the need for holding talks between Awami League and BNP.
“The two major parties need to sit together to reach a consensus with a view to ensuring the participation of all political parties in the parliamentary election. Or else, confrontation is inevitable,” he apprehended.
BNP acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on Tuesday categorically said the 18-party alliance will not participate in the next general election if it is held under the current regime keeping the 9th parliament in place.
“The Prime Minister has given her outline regarding the polls as per the blueprint they chalked out to hang onto power. We equivocally want to say that the BNP-led 18-party alliance won’t accept it,” he added.
In a meeting with secretaries at the Cabinet Division on Monday, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said that the next general election would be held without dissolving parliament and Cabinet.
The premier also said the constitutional term of the incumbent government would expire on January 24, 2014 and the next general election would have to be taken place within its previous 90 days.
Source: UNBConnect
Our heads of govts are never ready to answer questions put to them by the common people although all of them pretend to be very fond of democracy. Here also both the head of the govt and the chief of the opposition only SAY, giving no chance for the people to say anything. The wise say, ‘God has given only one tongue but two ears. By this HE perhaps advised human beings t speak less and listen more.’ Many also say that had the Bangalees not had the unimaginable power of the JAW, they would have done much, much real development of the country. But our top leaders compete with each other who can talk much and play the same record. Just play the records of their lectures for the last two decades and you may hear almost the same rhetoric. This is in their royal opinion ‘democracy’. From their attitude one would like to ask, do they themselves understand the meaning of democracy? or just sing the chorus to beguile people? This our PM – the way she talks – gives us the idea that she is the wisest of all in the world and all others are just donkeys. She never hesitates to swallow her own words without even a blink of the eye. She shows excuse that the she is only obeying the verdict of the SC, knowing fully well that she is being deceitful to the people who know the truth of passing the 15th amendment solely on her own wish. If we try to cite examples of her jugglery of words, it may make a Ramayana. For example she showed the burnt pages of the holy Qur’an but did not show the video footage of who were those devils doing that satanic work. She might try her best to hoodwink common people but they are no longer stupid morons. They have already known her true color.