Khaleda says fairness is the key, caretaker or no caretaker

The national election does not have to be under the caretaker system, Khaleda Zia has said in a departure from her longstanding demand, and added: "Any neutral body will do."

Senior Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 25 July 2015, 03:39 PM
Updated : 1 August 2015, 06:33 PM

The BNP chief told a group of lawyers on Saturday: "The last three elections to key city corporations have proved our fears once again. No fair election is possible under this government."

Awami League-backed mayoral candidates won the polls to the three city corporations in Dhaka and Chittagong in April.

The BNP had boycotted the polls halfway through the voting day amidst allegations of widespread rigging.

"It is not necessary that elections should be under a caretaker government. Whatever it is called, we want a neutral government to ensure free and fair elections”, Khaleda said on Saturday.

She also expressed eagerness to arrive at a compromise over the issue.

"Why shouldn’t we (Awami League and BNP) see one another? Why shouldn’t we sit?” she asked.

“We had established parliamentary government together,” she said.

Calling for an election soon, Khaleda said, “It’s not possible to be in power forcefully with the help of police, RAB and administration. Its consequences will be dire.”

“We don’t want that. So, we’ll tell the government that there is still time for their good sense to prevail,” she added.

Pro-BNP professionals’ leader Emajuddin Ahamed told bdnews24.com later that Khaleda ‘advanced one step to overcome the crisis.’

Political analyst and daily Sokaler Khabor Editor Muzammil Husain said BNP’s change of stance was a ‘realistic’ move.

“They have understood the reality, though late,” he said.

The caretaker government system was included in the Constitution through the Thirteenth Amendment in 1996.

Caretaker governments oversaw elections in 1996, 2001 and 2008.

The 2008 election followed a two-year rule by the military-backed caretaker government, raising questions on the system’s effectiveness.

In a historic verdict on May 10, 2011, the Supreme Court declared the Thirteenth Amendment illegal.

The government brought the Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution in June that year to exclude the system from the charter.

BNP protested violently against the Amendment and boycotted the 2014 election overseen by the Awami League government. Hundreds of people died in the months of protests.

Now, rejecting BNP’s demand for a snap general election under a 'neutral' body, Awami League leaders have said that the next election will be held under the current government in 2019.