NCP warns election roadmap may trigger political crisis

The party says preparing for polls without finalising the July Charter process could lead to political turmoil

The National Citizen Party (NCP) has expressed concern that the Election Commission’s roadmap for the general election could lead to future political crisis.

The roadmap, unveiled on Thursday afternoon by Election Commission Senior Secretary Akhtar Ahmed, outlines the commission’s preparatory steps for holding the vote.

Just hours later, at 7pm, the NCP held a press conference at its Banglamotor office in Dhaka in response.

At the briefing, the party’s Senior Joint Convenor Ariful Islam Adib said: “We had hoped that before announcing the election roadmap, the government would release a clear plan on progress in reforms.

“But to our disappointment, for unknown reasons, the next meeting of the National Consensus Commission has been postponed, and no legal framework has yet been established for the July Charter.”

He said the move to announce an election roadmap without resolving the Charter’s status amounted to a breach of commitments made by both the Consensus Commission and the interim government.

“We are not opposed to elections,” Adib added. “In fact, we see them as essential for transitioning the state from a ‘fascist’ system to democracy. From that point of view, announcing a roadmap is a positive step.

“But unless the July Charter receives a legal foundation, moving ahead with election plans may cause a future crisis -- and the responsibility will rest with the government.”

The roadmap, approved the day before by the commission led by AMM Nasir Uddin, outlines over two dozen tasks, including dialogue with political parties and stakeholders in the last week of September.

The Election Commission prepared the roadmap considering all activities including consultations, meetings, briefings, training, printing, budget allocations, ICT-based preparations, campaigns, coordination cells, and inter-ministerial meetings.