EC talks: President positive about BNP’s proposal, the party says it is optimistic

President Md Abdul Hamid has said the discussions with the political parties and their views will be significant in forming a strong EC.

The president’s dialogue with the political parties started through talks with the BNP on Sunday.

The President’s Press Secretary Md Joynal Abedin briefed the media about the hour-long meeting at the Bangabhaban’s Darbar Hall.

The president thanked the BNP delegation, led by party Chairperson Khaleda Zia, at the beginning of the meeting for responding to the invitation to join the dialogue.

“Election is a very significant matter in the democratic process. And the Election Commission plays the main role to conduct elections,” Abedin quoted the president as telling the BNP.

“The proposals presented by the BNP will be helpful to constitute a strong EC and the search committee,” Hamid added, according to Abedin.

Though the ruling Awami League has already rejected Khaleda’s proposal, the BNP says it ‘is optimistic’ after the talks with the president.

After returning to party headquarters at Naya Paltan from the Bangabhaban, BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir told the media: “We are happy about the meeting with the president. We have become optimistic.”

Khaleda, the three-time former prime minister, was received by the Bangabhaban's Additional Secretary Wahidul Islam Khan when she arrived at the president's office. The talks commenced after 4:30pm.

The other members of the BNP delegation had entered the Bangabhaban earlier.

Apart from Mirza Fakhrul, the party’s policymaking National Standing Committee members Khandker Mosharraf Hossain, Moudud Ahmed, Jamiruddin Sircar, Mahbubur Rahman, Rafiqul Islam Mia, Gayeshwar Chandra Roy, Abdul Moyeen Khan, Nazrul Islam Khan and Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury were in the delegation.

The President’s Press Secretary Abedin quoted Hamid as telling BNP at the meeting, “I believe your opinions will play a positive role in forming the next Election Commission.

“Discussions and exchange of views on any matter lead to options for multiple solutions,” the president told the BNP.

Abedin also said the BNP chairperson thanked the president.

Khaleda presented a written proposal on the process to form the next EC and the search committee, he said.

“She also presented their proposal on the Representation of the People Order and strengthening the EC,” he added.

The president’s press secretary said the BNP wished the president success in this initiative and offered full cooperation.

Having stayed out of the 2014 general elections, the BNP now sits out of Parliament. After failed deadly protests to unseat the Awami League government, it has been calling for a dialogue but the ruling party has rejected the call.

As the current EC' runs its term in February, Khaleda came up with a 13-point proposal in November on the composition of the next EC.

It sent the proposal to the president and sought to speak with him but the president could not give time.

Later, the president called the political parties to the dialogue over the constution of the electoral commission. The BNP is the first party to sit with him.

Khaleda and the other BNP leaders appeared upbeat when they were leaving the Bangabhaban after the talks on Sunday.

Mirza Fakhrul said the party presented specific proposals on the formation of the search committee to find suitable candidates for the election commissioners.

It has proposed a five-member search committee, headed by a former chief justice, to recommend names for new commissioners. The president will appoint the chief and other election commissioners from them.

Asked if the BNP recommended any name for the search committee, Mirza Fakhrul replied, "I've already told you that our chairperson presented her specific views on the search committee to the president."

The BNP wants the members of the search committee to be 'free from influence of any political party'. They do not want anyone who has a questionable background and had served in profitable government post after retirement.

About the talks with the president, Mirza Fakhrul said, "The honourable president is a political leader from head to toe. He has been in Bangladesh's politics for a long time and he is respected by all.

"We want to firmly say that the dialogue has given us hope that he will play a proper role as the guardian of the state to resolve the crisis," he said.

The party has been saying that Bangladesh is in a 'deep political crisis' after the formation of a government through elections without the BNP, a claim repeatedly denied by the Awami League.

The ruling party also thinks the BNP's dialogue with the president will not be a fruitful.

“If it continues to be rigid, these discussions will be unsuccessful,” Awami League General Secretary Obaidur Quader said earlier in the day about the BNP, which has been demanding elections under a ‘non-partisan’ government.

The BNP, however, hopes the president's initiative will be effective in ‘ending the crisis'.

"We hope the president's initiative will, without a doubt, play an effective role to overcome the current political crisis and the process of discussion will continue," Mirza Fakhrul said.

In the written proposal, Khaleda thanked the president for giving the time for the discussion.

"I hope our proposals will be considered logical and acceptable."

Mirza Fakhrul said the talks were held in a 'very friendly and warm atmosphere'.

"The president welcomed us with his natural warmth," he added.

The BNP leader said the president has no way but to hold the dialogue, since there is no law guiding the appointment of the election commissioners.  

"That's why we think the president needs to form the EC on the consensus of political parties.

"He (the president) was also of the view that there is no other way than discussions and dialogues in a democratic country. The president thinks these problems should be resolved through talks," Mirza Fakhrul said.

According to him, President Hamid in the beginning of the discussion said he called the BNP at first as it is the only political party that urged him to initiate the talks.

"He has taken our views for initial consideration," the BNP leader said.

"He thinks it is very much necessary to form an acceptable, neutral, brave and competent Election Commission. He expects cooperation from all the political parties," he added.

The BNP hopes the president will call the political parties to another dialogue again after finishing the current one within the next month, Mirza Fakhrul said.