Electoral Reforms: AL joins EC talks, says nothing

Ruling Awami League yesterday joined the Election Commission's dialogue on electoral reforms but refrained from giving opinions on the reform proposals.

It asked the commission to bring BNP to the dialogue to reach a political consensus on the proposed reforms. The EC started the dialogue on June 7.

The AL said the party would give its opinion on the proposals after consultations with the party chief and the party forum.

The EC had planned to wrap up the dialogue after holding talks with the AL, as the main opposition BNP turned down its repeated calls for talks. However, the ruling party's stance has made it more difficult for the EC to go ahead with its plan.

Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) ATM Shamsul Huda and election commissioners Muhammed Sohul Hussain and Sakhawat Hossain seemed unhappy at the outcome of yesterday's talks.

"We'll wait for a few days for the ruling party's opinion. Then we'll start reviewing opinions given by other parties during the talks," the CEC told reporters at his office yesterday.

During the talks, AL General Secretary Syed Ashraful Islam repeatedly said they came just to know the justification of the EC's proposals for electoral reforms and would give a decision later.

The EC insisted that the AL should specify a time frame for giving its opinion.

In response, the AL leaders said the party would give its opinions before the present EC's tenure expires in February next year.

Stressing the need for a consensus on electoral reforms, the AL general secretary said if the EC takes effective steps, it can ensure BNP's participation in the talks.

In response, the EC said it tried to bring BNP to the talks, but the main opposition refused to sit with it.

The CEC said the commission sent letters to BNP thrice. An election commissioner also talked to BNP leaders and requested them to join the talks.

The AL delegation led by Deputy Leader of Parliament Syeda Sajeda Chowdhury joined the talks with the EC.

The delegation was briefed on the use of electronic voting machine (EVM) that the EC plans to introduce in the next parliamentary elections.

The EC and its technical experts gave a demonstration of the EVM and answered questions from the AL leaders.

The CEC said the EC plans to use EVMs in the upcoming polls to Narayanganj and Comilla city corporations.

Huda also explained the reasons for its proposals for enacting laws on redrawing parliamentary boundaries, state funding for political parties to meet their election expenses, appointment of the CEC and election commissioners, and making some changes in the Representation of the People Order.

The EC invited 38 registered political parties to the talks. Of them, BNP and six other parties did not participate in the dialogue.

Source : The Daily Star