Kumari Puja celebrated

Bangladesh Sangbad Sangbastha . Dhaka The Kumari Puja, one of the most attractive and significant programmes of the Durga Puja, was arranged at Ramakrishna Mission in Dhaka Tuesday drawing hundreds of Hindu devotees.
Marking the occasion, the Hindus arrange the worship of a young girl on Ashtami day of the Durga Puja treating her as the Maa Durga. This year a six-year girl Rachita was worshiped in front of the idol of Goddess Durga.
Sri Ramakrishna says the Divine Mother manifests herself more in a pure-hearted girl and that is why the Kumari Puja is done. Kumari Shakti is the basis of all creations.
Since early in the morning, the devotees started arriving at RK Mission where such puja is only held here, with their offerings turning the whole mission area completely overcrowded at about 9:00am.
In Mahabharata, Arjuna had performed the Kumari Puja. Swami Vivekananda performed Kumari Puja for the first time in Belur in 1902 with worship of many young girls from different communities. Now only one Kumari is worshipped.
In the dawn of Ashtami, the Kumari was bathed and clad in a red benarasi saari. She was then adorned with flowers and jewellery. The young Kumari fasts the whole day until the puja is over.
Devotees of all ages including the senior monks of the mission offered flowers at the feet of the Kumari. Finally, Arati was performed. It is customary to gift the girl with gold, silver and clothes and gift the Kumari is considered to be a pious act.
General secretary of Mohanagar Sarbojanin Puja Committee Advocate Tapos Kumar Paul said the Ashtami Puja was held in the Dhakeswari Temple with presence of thousands of devotees irrespective of ages. Later, Mahaprasad was distributed among them.

Dhaka sits on new TIFA draft today

The commerce ministry today holds an inter-ministerial meeting on Bangladesh’s position on the fresh Trade and Investment Framework Agreement draft into which the US authorities have incorporated issues of protection of intellectual property rights, workers rights and environment concerns.
Experts have, meanwhile, feared that the issues incorporated into the new draft might jeopardize Dhaka’s interest if the agreement is implemented.
The priorities Washington incorporated into the new TIFA draft were not there in the draft earlier negotiated and put into a final form at the third-round negotiation between Dhaka and Washington in February 2005.
Formation of a joint working group under the proposed US-Bangladesh Council on Trade and Investment has been dropped off the new draft which has also undermined Dhaka’s interest in eliminating non-tariff trade barriers.
The new draft sent by US authorities concerned to the Bangladesh commerce ministry for consideration includes clauses on labour, intellectual property rights and environment issues which on agreement of both the parties were removed from the final draft negotiated in 2005, sources in the commerce ministry said.
The fresh proposal undermines the urgency of Bangladesh’s interest in eliminating non-tariff barriers, often faced by Bangladeshi exporters to the US market in the name of labour standards, working conditions, wages and labour rights, sources said.
Trade experts said the incorporation of labour issues into the draft would enable the United States to impose sanctions on Bangladeshi exports to its market. They referred to Bangladesh’s ongoing dilemma over how to allow trade unionism in the export processing zones.
A trade diplomat said the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights Agreement under the World Trade Organisation was not favourable at all for least developed countries.
‘If the TRIPS issue is incorporated into the bilateral TIFA, it will only favour the United States and may create serious problems for Bangladesh in future,’ a trade expert told New Age.
The prime objective of the United States in forging TIFA is to protect the interest of US companies in the energy sector and it would create new problems in Bangladesh’s readymade garment and pharmaceutical industries and export front, the expert said.
The new draft has proposed the inclusion of representatives of both the private sector and civil society in the US-Bangladesh Council on Trade and Investment. The earlier draft had representatives only of the private sector.
Issues such as elimination of corruption and bribery have also been included in the new draft.
On June 1, US trade representative Robert B Zoellick signed TIFA deal with five Central Asian countries — Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan — promising them better trade and investment facilities.
In Bangladesh, TIFA was met with both hopes for a better trade future and fears of strict compliance with labour and workplace standards that may hamper usual exports.
A high commerce ministry official said they would hold an inter-ministerial meeting today to finalise Bangladesh’s position on the proposed text of TIFA.
He, however, declined to make any comments on controversial issues of the proposed agreement, saying higher authorities will decide on signing TIFA with the United States.
On corruption and bribery issue, he said the law ministry earlier endorsed the inclusion of the controversial words.
The United States is the single largest export destination of Bangladesh with an annual export earning of about $3.5 billion or about 40 per cent of the Bangladesh’s total annual export.

Troops deployed as one killed in Thai protests

Agence France-Presse . Bangkok

Clashes between protesters and the Thai police on Tuesday left at least one dead and hundreds injured, with the army deployed as months of political turmoil boiled over into violence, officials said.
One of Thailand’s five deputy prime ministers, Chavalit Yongchaiyudh, resigned over the crackdown, saying his role as chief negotiator with the protesters had been compromised.
Thai media, meanwhile, announced that Queen Sirikit was donating 100,000 baht (3,000 dollars) to pay medical expenses for the wounded protesters.
There were scenes of chaos outside Bangkok’s parliament as the police fired tear gas into the crowd of thousands, sending bloody protesters fleeing. Angry mobs overturned police vehicles and fired guns, AFP correspondents said.
One female protester was killed during clashes, an official from a Bangkok hospital said, but did not reveal the cause of death.
Eight police officers were shot or stabbed in the unrest, the police said, which capped months of demonstrations aimed at removing Thailand’s elected government because of its ties to ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra.
‘The government does not consider (the protests) peaceful,’ said government spokesman Nattawut Saikua. ‘They are armed militants with guns and hand grenades and move with clear purpose to seize key government installations.’
A man was killed in a car bombing near the protest site, although the police said it was unclear if the blast was linked to the violence.
An army spokesman said police had called the military in to help quell protests but the powerful army chief quickly sought to reassure Thailand that there would be no military takeover in the coup-prone kingdom.
‘Public, please do not panic. The troops are being sent out not because there is another coup. Absolutely the military will not stage a coup. It’s not good for our country,’ General Anupong Paojinda told reporters.
Army spokesman Colonel Sunsern Kaewkumnerd said that unarmed troops from the army, navy and air force were being deployed ‘across Bangkok, not just at the flash points, to maintain law and order’.
The prime minister, Somchai Wongsawat, — who has only been in his position for three weeks — said earlier he would not declare a state of emergency or resign as the protests escalated.
Government medical officials said 394 people had been injured, with 49 hospitalised, as police tried to disperse thousands of protesters surrounding parliament to try to prevent Somchai from giving his first policy speech.
The address went ahead but the special parliamentary session ended after two hours and protesters blockaded lawmakers inside, forcing Somchai and five aides to climb over a fence to escape the mob, an AFP correspondent said.
The police bombarded the demonstrators with tear gas throughout the day to try and disperse about 8,000 protesters and all the legislators eventually escaped.
The political turmoil began here in late May when protesters launched their campaign to overthrow the government because of its ties to Thaksin, who was ousted in a September 2006 coup — the kingdom’s 18th putsch.
Supporters of the People’s Alliance for Democracy stormed Bangkok’s main government compound on August 26 and have been barricaded there since, also protesting the government’s plans to amend the constitution.
Late Monday, thousands heeded a call from a protest leader to march on parliament for a ‘final battle.’
The People Power Party won elections in December last year that marked the end of military rule brought in by the 2006 coup, but the old power elite in the palace and military resented the return to power of Thaksin’s allies.
Former prime minister Samak Sundaravej was forced from office in September, after a court ruled he had accepted illegal payments for a TV show, and his successor Somchai formed his new government last month.
Somchai — Thaksin’s brother-in-law — had opened talks with the protest leaders, but those talks were jeopardised over the weekend with the arrest of PAD head Chamlong Srimuang and protest organiser Chaiwat Sinsuwong.

Polls to be held under state of emergency: adviser

The military-controlled interim government will keep the state of emergency in force to ensure security for voters during the ninth parliamentary elections scheduled to be held on December 18.
‘We will keep the state of emergency in force for ensuring the security of the common voters,’ the commerce and education adviser, Hossain Zillur Rahman, told reporters at the secretariat on Tuesday, and added that any provisions against electioneering in the Emergency Powers Rules would be removed.
He said the government’s main goals ahead were to conduct an effective election and ensure post-election stability through negotiations with political parties.
Communications adviser Ghulam Quader, law adviser AF Hassan Ariff and LGRD and cooperatives adviser Anwarul Iqbal were also present at the press briefing, which was held after a meeting of the panel of advisers to discuss how to carry out political negotiations for ‘smooth transition to democracy’.
Zillur said the government was creating an atmosphere that will be congenial for the elections. ‘Any provisions in the emergency rules that obstruct political activities will be removed for the sake of meaningful elections.’
The recent polls to four city corporations and nine municipalities under the state of emergency were a rehearsal for the government, ‘where a record number of people from the minority groups cast their votes’, he claimed.
‘We should not neglect the creation of a sense of security in the common people…We will continue the emergency as there is a possibility of violence. We want to check intimidation and influence of black money in the elections,’ said the adviser in an attempt to explain the reasons for government’s determination to conduct the national polls under the state of emergency.
Referring to the planned dialogue between the government and the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, Zillur said the party was now very eager to talk with the government. ‘Very soon we will set a date for the talks with BNP as we have already sat with the other parties.’
Replying to another query, he expressed the hope that the two major leaders — Awami League’s president Sheikh Hasina and BNP’s chairperson Khaleda Zia — would sit across a table for a discussion. ‘They should initiate the move and the government will play its supportive role,’ said the adviser.
As for the aspirations of the common people for qualitative changes in the nation’s politics, he said all including the political parties have their roles to play for achieving the target.

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3,200 Afghan civilians killed by NATO, US action since 2005

Up to 3,200 civilians have been killed in NATO and US action in Afghanistan since 2005 but compensation payouts have been far lower than in other global cases, according to research by a US professor.
The use of air power is growing, raising risks for civilians, University of New Hampshire professor Marc W Herold says in research released on the anniversary of the October 7, 2001 launch of the invasion of Afghanistan.
International troops arrived to topple the Taliban and have remained to fight an insurgency in which civilians are killed in military action and attacks, although the government and militaries involved do not release numbers.
Herold says other groups tracking the civilian cost of the war, such as Human Rights Watch, underestimate the tolls while international military and media attach low value to Afghan life in the accounting of events.
Herold, who runs the Afghan Victim Memorial Project, says his research shows between 2,699 and 3,273 civilians were killed in direct action by international forces in Afghanistan from 2005 to so far this year.
His figures, which he says are also underestimates because civilians are sometimes labelled militants by the military and unknown numbers of injured dying, are basedon media and nongovernment organisation reports and other research.
‘By relying upon aerial close air support attacks, US/NATO forces spare their pilots and ground troops but kill lots of innocent Afghan civilians.
‘Air strikes are 4-10 times as deadly for Afghan civilians as are ground attacks,’ he says.
Herold says the US military gives families of its victims at most 2,500 dollars as a condolence payment — not ‘compensation’ which would admit wrong-doing.
Canadian per person condolence payments to Afghans since 2006 range from 1,100-9,000 dollars, he says.
This compares to 1.85 million paid for victims of the 1988 bombing of a flight over Lockerbie, Scotland, and 150,000 dollars per victim of a 1999 US bombing on the Chinese embassy in Belgrade that killed three Chinese and wounded 23 other people.

Fuel oil prices may fall by this month

The government is most likely to decrease fuel oil prices by this month if the prices in international market remain at the current level or dip further, chief adviser’s special assistant for power and energy ministry M Tamim told New Age on Tuesday.
Tamim along with senior officials of the energy division are expected to hold a meeting with finance adviser Mirza Azizul Islam today to discuss the issue.
‘The government is actively considering decreasing prices of fuel oils like diesel and kerosene as the oil price in international market has come down sharply over the last month. Most likely, we will decrease oil price in local market within this month,’ Tamim said.
He said after discussing the issue with the Finance Division and the communications ministry, they would fix how much prices should be decreased. ‘Apart from the Finance Division, we will discuss the issue with the communications ministry as transport fare is related with fuel prices.’
The price of crude oil dipped to around $87 in international market on Monday following the worldwide economic turmoil, especially the recession in USA.
According to a report of the New York Times posted on Monday, the oil price in international market might continue to slide to $70 per barrel or even lower.
The price of crude oil was around $141 when the government increased the price of diesel and kerosene to Tk 55 per litre from Tk 40 and octane to Tk 90 from Tk 67 and petrol to Tk 87 from Tk 65 on July 1.
Bangladesh imports around 22-23 lakh tonnes of refined oils like diesel, kerosene and octane and around 13-14 lakh tonnes of crude oil from which Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation produces diesel, kerosene and petrol. There is a gap of around $10-$20 in refined and crude oil prices.
Officials of BPC claimed that despite oil price fall in international market, the BPC incurred a loss of around Tk 10 per litre in selling diesel and kerosene in September and made ‘some’ profit in selling octane and petrol.
The BPC imported diesel, kerosene and octane at a rate of around $114-$120 per barrel in late September when the crude oil price came down to around $100. According to this estimate, the total import cost stands between Tk 49 and Tk 52 per litre.
In addition to the import cost, the BPC pays Tk 11.50 as duty to the government for per litre of octane and Tk 6.93 for per litre of kerosene and diesel. Besides, there are costs related to evaporation loss, transportation cost within the country and margin for the oil marketing companies.
In total, BPC’s expenditure as duty, evaporation loss and other costs stands around Tk 10 per litre for diesel and kerosene and around Tk 18 for octane.
With these, BPC’s total cost in selling each litre of diesel stands between Tk 59 and Tk 62. BPC, however, sells diesel to the oil marketing company at Tk 52.01, kerosene at Tk 52.54 and octane at Tk 85.34 per litre.
With the fall of oil prices, BPC’s actual loss in selling diesel and kerosene came down to around Tk 7 per litre in late September while it made a profit of over Tk 20 for each litre of octane and petrol. ‘As BPC sells around 1-2 lakh tonnes of octane and petrol against over 24 lakh tonnes of diesel and kerosene, the profit from octane and petrol is not significant,’ said an energy division official.
Officials of the energy division believe that as the fuel oil price had come down to $87 per barrel in October, the BPC’s loss in selling diesel and kerosene would be diminished while its profit from octane and petrol sales would increase further.

Dhaka’s strategic location to act as bridge between South and SE Asia: Fakhruddin

The chief adviser, Fakhruddin Ahmed, has said his government firmly believes that the current Bangladesh visit of vice-chairman of the ruling State Peace and Development Council of the Union of Myanmar Maung Aye would generate a giant leap in the bilateral relations of the two countries.
‘The strategic location of Bangladesh grants us a legitimate claim to act as a bridge between South and Southeast Asia, and we solicit extended cooperation from our friendly neighbour Myanmar,’ he told a banquet hosted by him and his spouse in honour of General Maung Aye and his spouse Daw Mya Mya San at the Sonargaon Hotel on Tuesday night.
The chief adviser and his wife Neena Ahmed received distinguished guest couple at the banquet venue. Members of general Aye’s entourage, speaker Barrister Jamiruddin Sircar, advisers, special assistants and distinguished personalities attended the banquet.
General Maung Aye also addressed the function, hoping that his tour would further consolidate the friendly relations between the two governments and the two armed forces.
‘The main purpose of our visit is to further cement and strengthen the existing friendly relations and cooperation between our two countries,’ he said.
Speaking at the dinner, the chief adviser noted that Myanmar is Bangladesh’s gateway to the ASEAN and as a new member of the ASEAN Regional Forum Bangladesh looks forward to working closely with Myanmar.
‘We hope to contribute to the ARF process to promote peace and stability in the region and beyond. Myanmar, likewise, has become an observer in the SAARC. We have also been cooperating together in BIMSTEC and Asia Cooperation Dialogue,’ he said.
The head of the caretaker government said the relationship between the two countries was expanding along a broad spectrum that embraces, among others, trade, commerce, investment and other economic and political issues.
‘I’ve absolutely no doubt that through dialogues held on a backdrop of friendship and understanding, we’ll be able to successfully address all our subjects of common interest, including the questions of refugees and maritime boundaries,’ he said.
He mentioned that the two countries hold similar views in various regional and international fora.
‘You’re all witness, this evening, to the beginning of a new chapter in our bilateral relations of the two neighbouring countries. The renewed momentum that our friendship gains today will bring far-reaching benefits for our two peoples in the days ahead,’ Fakhruddin told his audience.
The head of the caretaker government said Bangladesh and Myanmar were developing countries with similar economic challenges and both need to intensify their efforts to face these challenges together through closer political and economic links.
‘Our talks today were a clear reflection of our resolve in this regard,’ he said about the official talks between the two countries led by him and general Aye who came here earlier in the day at the head of a powerful delegation.

Dhaka proposes tri-nation talks on link with China

Staff Correspondent

Bangladesh on Tuesday proposed a tripartite meeting to discuss the possibility of linking itself with China through a cross-border road in Myanmar, said an official.
The chief adviser, Fakhruddin Ahmed, made the proposal in a meeting with Myanmar’s vice-senior general, Maung Aye, who is now in Dhaka on a three-day official visit, said the foreign affairs adviser after the meeting.
Myanmar’s officials did not respond immediately to the proposal, saying that they would think of it, said Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury, the foreign adviser, adding that further discussion would take place between the ministries concerned.
He, however, could not give any date for the proposed tri-national meeting.
Issues like the delimitation of the maritime boundary, import of Myanmar’s gas through a bilateral gas pipeline for fertiliser production in Bangladesh, contract farming in Myanmar by Bangladeshi farmers, repatriation of 21,000 Rohingya refugees and military cooperation between the two countries were also discussed at the meeting held at the Chief Adviser’s Office.
In September, when Bangladesh’s chief adviser visited Beijing, China expressed its eagerness to establish a road-link with Bangladesh through Myanmar as the construction of a road to link Bangladesh and Myanmar was already underway.
After signing an agreement in 2004, Bangladesh improved the road up to Myanmar’s border, and is getting prepared for constructing a 23-kilometre road inside Myanmar at a cost of $20.3 million. Only Bangladesh will bear the cost of construction.
During the meeting between Fakhruddin and Aye, high officials of the two countries signed a deal to avoid double taxation to boost trade between the neighbouring nations. They have set an ambitious target of increasing the bilateral trade volume to $500 dollars’ worth from the existing $140 million, the balance of trade being in favour of Myanmar.
Bangladesh has shown interest in importing natural gas from Myanmar and in the construction of a bilateral gas pipeline for this purpose. It proposed at the meeting the setting up of a gas-based fertiliser factory in Bangladesh, whose products would be exported again to Myanmar.
A proposal for setting up a hydro-power project and the much-talked-about tri-national (Bangladesh-Myanmar-India) gas pipeline will also be featured at a meeting in the energy ministry on Wednesday.
When Dhaka requested Yangon to export rice to Bangladesh to meet its growing demand for food, the Myanmar delegation responded positively. The foreign adviser said that they agreed to export up to 100,000 tonnes of rice to Bangladesh on a regular basis as the country has repaired the damaged caused by cyclone Nargis.
About contract farming in Myanmar’s land, which Bangladesh has been wanting for a long time, the government proposed that a secretary-led delegation of the agriculture ministry should be permitted to visit Myanmar to assess the prospects of farming there.
‘It is a complex issue and it will take a little time to settle. There are a number of problems to be solved before farming in a foreign land,’ said Iftekhar while briefing newsmen at the Chief Adviser’s Office.
On delimitation of the maritime boundary, the foreign affairs adviser said that matter was discussed at the high-level meeting. It will be further discussed at the line ministry. The chief adviser sought the Myanmar’s leaders’ political cooperation to resolve the issue that has remained pending for nearly four decades.
Bangladesh has been hosting the Rohingya refugees, who were driven away by Myanmar’s military junta, in its south-eastern district of Cox’s Bazar for a long time. The chief adviser requested Myanmar’s general to expedite the repatriation of 21,000 refugees now living in squalid camps in Bangladesh.
For this purpose, said the foreign adviser, Fakhruddin has requested another tripartite meeting involving the two countries and the United Nations High Commission for Refugees as soon as possible.
The two sides agreed on military cooperation in training, visits and exchange of best practices.
In the afternoon Iftekhar called General Maung Aye in his hotel suite where he stressed the need for negotiated resolution of all the pending bilateral issues.
It was described as a very warm discussion covering a wide range of bilateral, regional and international issues.
‘It was an extremely cordial dialogue. I said how pleased Bangladesh was to work with Myanmar in BIMSTEC and also SAARC, where the country is now an observer,’ said Iftekhar.
‘Furthermore, our nations are both least developed countries with common problems and aspirations. I underscored the need to address and resolve all pending bilateral issues,’ he added.
Repatriation of the remaining Rohingya Muslim refugees to Myanmar and demarcation of the maritime boundary are among the long-standing issues between the two neighbours.
Iftekhar expressed the hope that the visit would lead to a long-lasting friendship between the two countries.
General Maung Aye arrived in Dhaka on a three-day official visit with a 55-strong entourage to discuss the outstanding issues between the two nations.
The chief adviser and his wife, members of the Cabinet and the army chief greeted Maung Aye, who is also the vice chairman of the Myanmar State Peace and Development Council, at the Zia International Airport in the morning.
Dhaka’s main thoroughfares were decorated with colourful flags, including the national flags of the two countries, and bill-boards erected on the roadside were inscribed with the legend: ‘Long live Bangladesh-Myanmar Friendship.’

Major parties yet to apply for EC registration

Staff Correspondent

Only seven political parties, and no major ones, have so far applied for the registration with the Election Commission with only a week for the deadline to expire.
The Awami League has initiated preparations to submit the application after the interim cabinet on Monday approved further amendments to the amended Representation of the People Order.
Monday’s amendment to the order eased the criteria allowing the parties to get registered with draft amended party constitutions approved by their central committees.
But the other major party, Bangladesh Nationalist Party, on Tuesday demanded further amendment to the order. BNP-led alliance partners, including the Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh, have also made similar demands.
The chief election commissioner, ATM Shamsul Huda, on Tuesday said the commission was not worried about the time left and vowed not to extend the October 15 deadline.
On Monday, he said no further amendment to the Representation of the People Order would be made.
‘I have information and communications with big political parties that they are working to amend party constitutions as necessary. I hope major political parties will complete registration formalities in time,’ Shamsul told reporters on Tuesday in reply to a question about whether the commission would extend the time for registration.
Except for major political parties, 120 small parties and groups, including the newly formed parties, have collected forms and seven of them have applied for the registration, sources in the commission said.
While the Awami League is likely to collect forms for registration today, its rival, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, is, however, standing its ground seeking amendments to the Representation of the People Order.
‘We are making preparations for party registration with the Election Commission,’ the acting Awami League general secretary, Syed Ashraful Islam, said after a meeting of the party presidium on Tuesday. ‘The working committee will sit on October 11 to make changes in the party constitution.’
A party delegation will meet the Election Commission today to discuss the new amendments to the electoral laws, Ashraf said.
The BNP secretary general, Khandaker Delwar Hossain, said the government and the Election Commission must fulfil the party’s demand to repeal the amendment made in August to the electoral laws regarding party registration.
‘The Representation of the People Order and electoral rules should be further amended in keeping with our demands,’ Delwar told reporters after a meeting of the BNP standing committee, the highest policymaking body of the party. ‘Many clauses in the order and electoral rules are contrary to holding elections in a free and fair manner.’
He, however, said the BNP wanted to participate in the forthcoming elections, but the authorities concerned must create a congenial atmosphere first. ‘We sat with the Election Commission. We will sit with the government. They must create a congenial atmosphere for participatory elections.’
The Communist Party of Bangladesh general secretary, Mujahidul Islam Selim, said, ‘Our party is ready to get registered and we will do this by the deadline.’
The Jamaat-e-Islami secretary general, Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojahid, claimed the party had no problem in getting registered with the Election Commission. ‘Our constitution does not contain anything that can cause problem in getting registered. Our leadership is elected. We make decisions in consultation with the elected leaders. The accounts are audited regularly,’ he said.
Zahirul Islam, joint secretary general of the Jatiya Party faction led by Hussain Muhammad Ershad, said, ‘We have made all preparations for the party registration.’
The seven parties which applied for registration are Bangladesh Krishak Sramik Janata League, Workers Party of Bangladesh, Bangladesher Samyabadi Dal (M-L), Liberal Democratic Party, Freedom Party, National People’s Party, and the Jatiya Party led by Anwar Hossain Manju.
The commission on August 27 issued a notice inviting political parties to apply for registration in a prescribed form along with a number of documents, including bank statements and income sources.
The military-controlled interim government on Monday approved amendment to the electoral laws allowing the political parties to get registered without holding council sessions.
Now with the approval for the amendment to the earlier revised Representation of the People Order, political parties will be allowed to submit a provisional constitution to the Election Commission to get registered by October 15 and contest the December 18 parliamentary polls.
But six months inside the first sitting of the next parliament, the parties must ratify their constitutions by duly holding council sessions in line with the latest electoral laws that call for more ‘democratic’ practice within the parties.
The chief election commissioner endorsed the latest amendments to the Representation of People (amendment) Ordinance 2008 and said the second round of the RPO 2008 amendments would be gazetted by today.

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.

McCain's Town-Hall Prowess Faces Litmus Test in Debate

Sen. John McCain finally gets his long-demanded joint town-hall meeting with Democratic rival Sen. Barack Obama on Tuesday night in Nashville, Tenn.

Getty Images

Sen. McCain speaks to supporters at a town hall meeting in Pueblo, Colorado on Friday.

The Republican's performance in the second of three presidential debates -- the only one held in the format he tends to favor -- could help determine his ability to stay competitive in a race that seems to have moved against the Arizona senator over the past week.

Shortly after Sen. Obama clinched the Democratic nomination in early June, Sen. McCain invited his Illinois rival to hold 10 joint town-hall meetings across the country, in which both candidates would stand together on stage and take questions from audience members.

Sen. Obama declined, saying he believed the three scheduled presidential debates were sufficient.

"I think the tone of this whole campaign would've been very different if Sen. Obama had accepted my request for us to appear at town-hall meetings all over America," the Republican nominee said last month.

Throughout his two presidential campaigns, Sen. McCain has favored the casual Q&A style of campaigning over speeches to large crowds that play better to Sen. Obama's oratory.

Barack Obama

The spontaneous, unpredictable conversational style of the events and the informal interaction with voters seem to bring out the best in Sen. McCain, more than canned, oft-repeated stump speeches do. The group interaction brings out his quick wit and self-proclaimed bent for "straight talk" -- he often will engage in extended debate with a voter who disagrees with him, even saying directly that the person is wrong.

At a summer event in Denver, a woman in a wheelchair asked Sen. McCain whether he would consider supporting the Community Choice Act that would give disabled people greater freedom on where to live.

"I will not," Sen. McCain responded. "Because I don't think it's the right kind of legislation." A trio of people in wheelchairs left the room after his response.

In recent weeks, the McCain campaign has sharply curbed the number of such events.

Write to Amy Chozick at amy.chozick@wsj.com