Staff Reporter :
The Jatiya Oikyafront in a letter on Saturday requested the Election Commission not to announce the schedule for 11th Jatiya Sangsad election until the ongoing political dialogue between the ruling and the opposition parties ends.
Dr Kamal Hossain, on behalf of the Oikyafront, sent the letter to Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) KM Nurul Huda.
“The Jatiya Oikyafront wants to hold another round of dialogue with the Prime Minister,” Kamal said in a letter to the commission, bringing the matter of political dialogue to its attention.
In the letter addressed to the Chief Election Commissioner, Kamal Hossain said, the confidence of the political parties and the people in the Election Commission will go up if it defers announcement of the election schedule.
Gano Forum Media and Training Affairs Secretary Rafiqul Islam Pathik carried the letter to the Election Commission around 4:45pm.
Talking to The New Nation, Rafiqul Islam said as the CEC was holding a closed-door meeting with other commissioners, he handed over the letter to an official, Anisur Rahman.
Kamal Hossain, quoting AL General Secretary Obaidul Quader as saying that it is under their consideration to hold another round of dialogue with the Oikyafront after 8 November.
The government is holding the dialogue with political parties ahead of the 11th Parliamentary elections due at the yearend or early next year.
The Jatiya Oikyafront led by Kamal Hossain held the first round of dialogue with the Awami League-led 14-party alliance. AL president and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina led the 14-party team at the talks held in her official Ganabhaban residence on November 1.
However, while briefing newsmen at his Baily Road residence, Dr Kamal said, “We have found no specific solution [to the current crisis] in the dialogue.”
The Jatiya Oikyafront including the BNP has placed a seven-point demand for holding a free and fair election.
The demands include installation of a neutral interim government, dissolution of parliament, reconstitution of the election commission, release of all the political prisoners including BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia, deployment of the army personnel and cancellation of the move to use EVM for holding the next polls in a fair manner.
