Like his predecessor Zillur Rahman, incumbent President Abdul Hamid will hold dialogues with political parties this month on the formation of a new election commission (EC).
The dialogues are likely to begin after December 16. Hamid will finish talks with the parties before he appoints the chief election commissioner (CEC) and commissioners, Joynal Abedin, press secretary of the president, told reporters.
Hamid flew yesterday to Singapore on a six-day visit for medical checkups.
A source at Bangabhaban said the dialogues might begin on December 18.
In 2011, the then president Zillur Rahman held talks with 23 registered political parties before forming the EC. The Awami league, BNP, Jatiya Party and other major political parties participated in the dialogue process.
This time, the marathon talks will begin with the BNP and then President Hamid will sit with the main opposition in parliament — Jatiya Party, sources said.
The dialogues with three major political parties — Awami League, BNP and Jatiya Party — will be separate. But other registered political parties might be invited to discussions in groups, according to sources.
There are currently 40 political parties registered with the EC in Bangladesh upon scrapping of the registration of the Jamaat-e-Islami, a key ally of the BNP-led 20-party alliance.
At a press conference last month, BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia placed a 13-point proposal for the formation of a “strong and non-partisan” election commission on the basis of a consensus among all political parties. She also urged the president to take the initiative of holding talks with the political parties on formation of a new EC upon expiry of the present EC in February next year.
Political activities may gain momentum, centring on the formation of the EC that would oversee the 2019 general election.
Regarding Khaleda’s proposal, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Saturday said, “She [Khaleda] has made her proposal; now she can tell the president about it, and he’ll make the decision … we’ve nothing to say.”
Hasina also said that according to the rules, the president would consider the proposal.
A two-member BNP delegation submitted Khaleda’s proposal yesterday to President Abdul Hamid through his Assistant Military Secretary Brig Gen Md Mainur Rahman.
Mainur assured them that the president would hold meetings with political parties on his return on December 11, BNP’s Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi Ahmed told reporters after coming out of Bangabhaban.
“We hope the honourable president will consider BNP’s proposal during the talks,” said Maj Gen (retd) Ruhul Alam Chowdhury, the other member of the delegation.
How Zillur Formed EC
Zillur Rahman discussed with political parties the constitution of a new election commission at the end of 2011.
His dialogues with the 23 registered political parties stressed the need for strengthening the EC for holding free and fair polls.
Of them, 12 parties, including the BNP, urged him to take measures for the restoration of caretaker system while six other parties including the Awami League and Jatiya Party opposed the CG system.
Upon talks with the political parties, the then president formed a four-member search committee led by Supreme Court Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain in January, 2012 to recommend people for appointments of CEC and election commissioners. The search committee proposed 10 names.
The then ruling Awami League and five other parties gave names for the appointments but the then opposition BNP, AL’s key ally Jatiya Party and 16 other parties did not recommend any name to the search committee.
