A closed-door meeting of BNP was held at BNP chairperson's Gulshan office on Friday (September 29th) from 7.30 PM to10 PM on the possible outlines and proposals for dialogue with the Election Commission scheduled for Oct 15. According to sources, about 12-14 people took part in the meeting including the standing committee members and former secretaries.

BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, Standing Committee member Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain,  Mirza Abbas, Nazrul Islam Khan, Gayeshwar Chandra Roy, Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury and former secretary Ismail Jabiullah and many others were present, a source participated in the meeting confirmed.

BNP will give several proposals including the organized use of EC’s power, the formation of a supportive government, and dissolution of parliament in the dialogue with EC. However, this party is keeping these proposals confidential.

When asked about the meeting, standing committee member Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury on Friday night, said, "I will not disclose this matter. It cannot be discussed. This is an internal and private meeting. Meeting regarding EC held several times.”

For the meeting with the EC, some of the party members drafted the possible outlines of the proposals on behalf of the party. One of them is former secretary Ismail Jabiullah.

The total draft, along with the description of the discussion, will be sent to BNP chief Khaleda Zia who is now in London. BNP senior vice chairman Tarek Rahman and Khaleda Zia will give final approval to the matter.

When contacted to know about this, at about 12 o'clock on Friday night, Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain told the Bangla Tribune, “We will give our proposals when we will the Election Commission. Before that, we have nothing to say about this. Our leader is in London now; we will send our thoughts and views to her regarding this. After that, we will understand what we will say and what not.”

Issues that may appear in the BNP’s proposal

Multiple responsible sources of the BNP have been informed that during the dialogue with the EC, the main focus of the outlines of the party's proposal will be on the independent function of the EC. BNP will give detailed advice on creating the environment to ensure the full utilization of EC’s constitutional power.  

That source also claimed that the guidelines to reconstitute EC given by Khaleda Zia on November 18 last year, in the Hotel Westin will have a fundamental impact. Apart from this, the establishment of cameras at risky centers, giving magistracy power to the army, rescheduling of electoral areas and arrange hearings are also in the proposal.

Besides, on the eve of the announcement of the election, some important ministries related to the elections, such as: Home, Finance, Information, Public Administration, Local Government, Education, Primary and Mass Education, Foreign, and Health and Family Welfare are bound to assist the EC according to the section 126 and section 5 of The Representation of the People Order, 1972. The BNP may propose to keep this order operative during the period between the date of announcement of the general elections schedule and the date of taking the power of the new government.

The party will propose to appoint different forces and election observers, during the election period. Besides, BNP can propose to formulate a supportive government as the election-time government and dissolve the 10th parliament before the election. 

It is to be noted that before this, in her proposal regarding the EC Khaleda Zia mentioned that in the present reality of Bangladesh, the formation of a neutral election commission on the basis of consensus for an inclusive, acceptable and credible election participated by all political parties is not sufficient enough. It is impossible to ensure the credibility and acceptance of the election without giving the proper administration and logistic support to the Election Commission and without proper support and assistance of the law enforcing agencies including defence forces.

When contacted to know about this committee member of BNP Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury told the Bangla Tribune, in our proposal we will say about the doings of the EC for a fair and neutral election in a democratic country. We will also give proposals in the ways the election system might not get questioned. We will also uphold the concerns of the voters regarding a fair election. All know the issues which affect a fair election in Bangladesh. We will say about the possible ways to overcome these in our proposal. It is a continuous process.”

When he was asked how much impact Khaleda Zia’s Proposal regarding EC will have, he said, “Her proposal was on the management system of the EC. And the center of the dialogue with the EC will be the next election. In this case, there will be some parts of that proposal, but the focus will be on the next election,”