Sheikh Hasina with AL delegation starts Presidential talks over EC formation

PBC News:  President M Abdul Hamid is now holding talks with the ruling party Awami League (AL), led by its president and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, over forming an acceptable Election Commission (EC), at Bangabhaban in Dhaka.

At the fag-end of the ongoing “Presidential Dialogue’’ with country’s registered political parties, Awami League sat today, on the 17th day at the Durbar Hall, BSS reports.

Other members of the 10-member delegation are:  AL General Secretary Obaidul Quader, advisory council members Amir Hossain Amu and Tofail Ahmed, presidium members Begum Matia Chowdhury, Sheikh Fazlul Karim Selim, Dr Mohammad Abdur Razzaque, Lieutenant Colonel (Retd) Muhammad Faruk Khan, Jahangir Kabir Nanak and Abdur Rahman.

President’s Press Secretary Md Joynal Abedin said that the President invited a total of 32 political parties, including the AL, for a dialogue on forming an independent, neutral and credible EC.

On December 20, the first day of the ongoing dialogue with the political parties, President Hamid started a dialogue with the Jatiya Party, the main opposition in the Jatiya Sangsad (Parliament).

Meanwhile, a total of seven political parties, including the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), refrained from taking part in the dialogue.

Earlier, a dialogue was held with the participation of political parties ahead of the ninth, 10th and 11th parliamentary elections.

The President has been given the power to appoint CEC and more than four Election Commissioners.

In the last few terms, the President formed the EC on the basis of the recommendations of the Search Committee.

The current EC’s five-year tenure is scheduled to expire on February 14 next.