Jatiya Oikya Front has unveiled their polls manifesto for the upcoming national election slated for Dec 30.
The manifesto, read out by Nagorik Oikya Convener Mahmudur Rahman Manna in a media call on Monday (Dec 17), pledged to restore power to the hands of the people.
The opposition Alliance’s chief Dr Kamal Hossain, BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, Krishak Sramik Janata League Abul Kader Siddique and Ganasasthya Kendra Founder Zafrullah Chowdhury were present among others in the media brief held at the capital’s Hotel Purbani International.
Key pledges laid out in the manifesto include – creating balance in the state power, decentralising administration, fostering national unity, ensuring good governance, ensuring citizens’ security, measures to stop extrajudicial killings, curbing corruption and generating employment.
Oikya Front also pledged to implement their goals within five years.
The alliance points out in the manifesto that they will establish a-party truth finding and reconciliation commission aiming to achieve a national unity, scrap the Digital Security Act, formulate provisions for a polls time administration and introduce a limit premiership to a maximum of two consecutive terms.
There will be no age limit for civil services except for Police and Armed forces and corruption among the government will be brought under justice through probe, reads the manifesto.
In the education sector, the alliance plans to scrap PSC and JSC public exams.
The manifesto also pledged a minimum wage of Tk 12,000 for workers in the garments sector.
“Given the present reality we would like to echo the students of road-safety movement and say that this state needs repairing. The next general election is slated on December 30 and the Jatiya Oikya Front believes people will cast their votes, stay at the voting centres to prevent irregularities and return home with news of their chosen candidates’ win,” said Dr Kamal in the media brief.
“December 30 will be a day of mass revolution through exercising voting rights,” added the Gano Forum chief.
“In order to build ‘Sonar Bangla’ as the Father of the nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman envisioned, prioritizing peoples’ opinion will be given utmost importance,” he said adding, “Bangladeshi will be a corruption free and peaceful country with no enforced disappearance, killing and terrorism.”
The some other promises of Oikya front includes, stopping torture in police remand and arrest of people in civil dress, ensuring compensation for those have been made accused in false cases, showing zero tolerance to sexual and verbal harassment of women, preventing dowry, forming an independent commission comprising eminent citizens and opposition MPs for all important appointments, including those of judges, filling up vacant posts in government services by the next three years, examining the justification of formation of provincial government, investigating the plundering in banking sector, reforming the health sector, bringing down the cost of medical treatment, introducing health cards for all and appointing an ombudsman for bringing discipline in the health sector.
The alliance also pledges to revoke PSC and JSC examinations, introduce unified admission test in all public universities, reduce the number of reserved seats for women to 10 percent from 15 percent, but ensure nomination of at least 20 percent women candidates for the parliamentary polls, strengthen further the relationship with India based on equality, join the projects valuable for Bangladesh under the One Belt, One Road initiative by China, ensure freedom of press, encourage investigative journalism, announce regular wage board for journalists, ensure the security of journalists in discharging their duties, reduce call rates of mobile phone and internet, and send a new satellite into the space.
Former Dhaka University Vice Chancellor Emajuddin Ahamed, BNP Vice Chairman Abdul Awal Mintoo, Joint Secretary General Syed Moazzem Hossain Alal and Journalist Mahfuz Ullah was also present during the occasion.
