BNP against polls under emergency, amended RPO

Staff Correspondent

The Bangladesh Nationalist Party has renewed its call holding parliamentary elections under laws and in constituencies that existed before the amendments and delimitations.
The party also demanded immediate withdrawal of the state of emergency saying that no free and fair elections were possible under emergency.
‘We demand that the Representation of the People Ordinance and the rules for registration of political parties should be [further amended] as per our proposals’, BNP secretary general Khandaker Delwar Hossain told reporters after a meeting of the standing committee, the highest policymaking body of the party, on Tuesday.
‘We want to participate in the elections scheduled for December 18 and have already had talks with the Election Commission and will have talks with the government in this regard. But a number of provisions in the amended Representation of the People Ordinance and the party registration act are contrary to holding of free and fair elections’, he said.
‘We want to return to democracy but we do not think that a fair election for transition to democracy could be held under the state of emergency which is unwanted and considered as the law of the jungle’, Delwar said.
When asked to specify the party’s stand on whether to contest the polls or not, Delwar said, ‘We’ve repeatedly said that we want to contest the polls as we consider elections as the only way for transfer of power. But the government is putting obstacles. Do they want us not to contest the polls? If not, why they are not lifting the state of emergency?’
Delwar also asked the government to meet the five-point charter of demands, placed by the BNP-led alliance, which the alliance considers essential for holding fair elections.
‘They are talking much about a level playing field. We too want so but still there are no signs of that. We do not seek any favour. Many of our leaders and activists are in jail and some of them have been convicted in farcical trials under the emergency power rules. They are unacceptable’, he said.
‘The elections should be a true reflection of public opinion. If there is any interference – overt or covert – there will be no reflection of public opinion’, he added.
A standing committee member told New Age, ‘We discussed the stance of the party which was conveyed to the Election Commission [on September 20] and we maintain the stand.’
On September 20, the party in its dialogue with the EC asked it to hold the stalled parliamentary elections before any other polls according to laws and constituencies that existed before the recent amendments and delimitations.It also called on the commission not to announce a schedule for upazila elections before holding of parliamentary polls.
The party also demanded withdrawal or suspension of the latest amendments to electoral laws, including the Representation of People Order (amendment) Ordinance [2008] and provisions for mandatory registration of political parties for contesting the upcoming polls.
‘The ninth parliamentary elections, which were scheduled for January 22, 2007, were stalled due to [the events leading to] January 11 [2007]. People are in doubt about the elections. So we have asked the Election Commission to hold the stalled elections first in line with the [electoral] laws, which were in force at that time, and in constituencies [that existed before delimitations],’ Delwar told reporters on September 20.
Demanding withdrawal or suspension of the amendments to the electoral laws and regulations, he said the new laws and regulations would require many further amendments. ‘Many provisions conflict with the [national] constitution. It will be difficult to hold the elections after amending the regulations further in such a short time.’
The standing committee in its Tuesday’s meeting also resented pressing of charges against Khaleda Zia, members of the party standing committee and leaders of Jamaat-e-Islami in Barapukuria coalmine corruption case and demanded withdrawal of all the cases filed against them and other politicians with an aim to harass them.
The meeting demanded immediate release of all politically detained people, containing skyrocketing prices of essentials, giving top priority to the agriculture sector, generating employment and reopening the closed factories.
Party chairperson Khaleda Zia chaired the standing committee meeting at her Gulshan office. Members of the committee M Saifur Rahman, RA Gani, Abdul Matin Chowdhury, Chowdhury Tanvir Ahmed Siddiqui, Mahbubur Rahman and M Shamsul Islam were present.
It was the second meeting of the standing committee after the release of Khaleda Zia from jail on September 11.