BNP requests EC to defer municipal polls by at least 15 days

The BNP has formally requested the chief election commissioner to postpone the municipal election by at least 15 days.

A team of BNP leaders met Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmad at the Election Commission secretariat on Sunday to place the demand.
 
The polls are scheduled to be held on Dec 30.
 
The BNP also urged the EC to retain the electoral rule that bars local MPs from campaigning for municipal poll candidates.
 
The party delegation met the EC a day after the last date for the filing of nominations by candidates for the mayoral posts.
 
Adviser to the BNP chairperson Osman Farooq led the team, which comprised Shamsuzzaman Dudu, SM Abdul Halim, Moazzem Hossain Alal, and Sujauddin.

In a meeting lasting about an hour, the BNP leaders explained their objections to certain aspects of the local body polls.

The party had boycotted the last national election held on Jan 5, 2014 but has now decided to take part in the forthcoming municipal polls.

Osman Farooq told reporters after the meeting that the ‘hastily’ announced poll schedule had created several complications.

The party demanded the holding of the election after close to five million new voters are registered in January, its secretary general and other leaders and workers are released from jail, maintain the ban on MPs campaigning in local elections, and a polling process free of party influence is ensured.

Farooq said: “The CEC cited legal hindrances to the postponement. But we said the law should be amended if necessary. It should serve people’s needs. It ceases to remain a matter of the government if the EC wants it.”

With BNP leaders and activists being held in prison, the party was being denied a level playing field, he said.

“We will not be able to effectively prepare for the polls unless our secretary general and other leaders and activists are released. There can be no proper election if arrests continue. They must be released to create an atmosphere conducive to polls,” he added.

He said the party will discuss the EC’s arguments against any postponement and would chalk out its next course of action.

The BNP had boycotted the 10th parliamentary election, demanding a non-partisan regime to oversee the polls. But later it took part in local body elections.

In April, it took part in the city corporation elections in Dhaka and Chittagong but withdrew midway, alleging widespread electoral fraud.

An amendment to the local government law has cleared the path for the holding of municipal polls along party lines, allowing mayoral candidates of all parties, including the BNP, to contest the polls with their party symbols.

The EC has also prepared fresh guidelines following the amendment, barring MPs from campaigning in the run-up to the municipal polls.

Earlier, on Saturday, delegations of the ruling Awami League and the opposition Jatiya Party met the EC demanding a lifting of the ban on campaigning by MPs.