Special Correspondent :
Jatiya Oikyfront leaders on Tuesday requested the Election Commission (EC) not to declare schedule of the upcoming 11th Parliamentary polls until disclosure of dialogue outcomes.
Dr Kamal Hossain led Oikyfront has been confirmed by the government side to sit for second dialogue on November 7 with a view to extending greater scope of discussions with respect to the alliance’s seven point demands. The new alliance held the first dialogue with the government at Prime Minister’s official residence Gonobhaban on November 1.
On Monday’s meeting with the EC, the Oikyfront also placed their opinion against use of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) in polls and demanded deployment of army for a free and fair election.
“We have requested the EC not to declare election schedule until results of the ongoing dialogue comes out,” Oikyfront leader ASM Abdur Rab told reporters after a meeting with the Commission.
He said the Oikyfront also demanded deployment of army with magistracy authority in the election and drop the decision of using EVMs in voting.
“We have also agreed on some issues, including security of polling agents and process applicable for announcing poll results,” he said.
Alliance leaders Mahmudur Rahman Manna, Goyeshwar Chandra Roy, Dr Zafrullah Chowdhury, Barkatullah Bhulu, Shahid Uddin Mahmud Swapan, Noyeem Jahangir were present.
Chief Election Commissioner KM Nurul Huda and the commission members Mahbub Talukder, Begum Kabita Khanam, Rafiqul Islam, Brig Gen (retd) Shahadat Hossain Chowdhury and Secretary Helaluddin Ahmad represented the EC side.
EC Secretary Helaluddin Ahmad also briefed reporters about the meeting yesterday evening. He said the EC will meet on November 8 prior to announcement of the election schedule.
“Dialogue outcomes will be discussed in the meeting. But, it is not sure that the date for announcement of election schedule will be shifted,” he said.
In reply to a question over Oikyfront’s demand for army deployment, Helaluddin said the issue of deployment of army will be decided after announcement of polls schedule.
Meanwhile, this development came after the EC on Sunday announced the date for unveiling the election schedule on November 8. The EC firmly said that the election will be held within 45 days countdown from announcement of polls schedule.
The EC has also taken the decision of using EVMs in the voting in a limited scale. The EC also completed almost all of its preparations towards holding the election in the third quarter of December.
In another development, the government is in a process of holding dialogues with opposition political parties, including Oikyfront, aiming to ease down conflicts over the upcoming Parliamentary polls.
The government side is claiming that it wants inclusive polls participated by all the political parties.
