Dialogue with EC
JP seeks interim govt, army deployment
Interim govt shouldnt have BNP representation: Ershad
The Jatiya Party (JP) has come up with a proposal for the formation of an interim government comprising of parliamentary representation by each political party which, if accepted, would ultimately deprive the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) of participation in such a government. Jatiya Party chairman HM Ershad expressed his regret that the BNP would not be able to participate in the interim government as the party did not avail of representation in Parliament by boycotting the elections on January 5, 2014. The interim government is formed in accordance with the rate of representation of Members of Parliament as per the Constitution. As the BNP is not in Parliament, it is regrettable that they will not be in the interim government, he said.
However, the JP chief said the EC has no jurisdiction over the formation of the interim governmentonly the government would do it, as per the Constitution. He added that the interim government would not interfere with the commission. Ershad disclosed this to media-persons after returning from a meeting with chief election commissioner (CEC) KM Nurul
Huda at the latters office in Election Bhaban yesterday.
Asked about the JPs proposal for an interim government, a senior BNP leader said they have nothing to say about it, as it was the JPs own proposal.
It is their partys proposal. The parties that are participating in the dialogue will place their own proposals. We, too, will place our proposal before the EC. Nothing is final yet, BNP standing committee member Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain told The Independent yesterday.
Meanwhile, the JP also proposed the dissolution of Parliament during the next general elections and deployment of the Army to ensure the peoples trust during elections.
Regarding the interim government, Ershad said, The formation of an interim government is not under the ECs jurisdiction. The government will do it. It has been done in the past and we hope itll be done this time as well.
Asked whether the BNP would take part in the next elections and whether the polls would be participatory, he said: I am not Allah. I cannot tell the future. But he did express his hope that the next elections would be participatory and that the BNP would participate.
About the deployment of the Army, he said, The public perception is that the elections would be fair if the Army is deployed. We have apprised the EC of this. As the people want the Army, it should be deployed.
Asked whether another dialogue should be held with the political parties, he said, I dont think another dialogue with the political parties would be necessary for holding fair polls. The EC is committed to holding fair polls and they want to inscribe their names on the pages of history.
We are hopeful the next elections would be fair, acceptable and impartial. We believe in the EC. They are committed to holding acceptable polls. I believe in them and pray to Allah for the fulfilment of their desire, he said. The JP also proposed capping the limit of election expenditure at Tk. 20 lakh, bringing the home ministry, establishment and local government under the ECs control, delimitation as per voters, etc. Asked about the Rohingya issue, he said, A huge number of Rohingya people have come to Bangladesh. It would be difficult to manage such a huge number. I pray that the Prime Minister will manage this, but the task is not easy. We did not get support from anywhere. We did not get support from China and Russia. Even our neighbouring country, India, did not support us. We have to stand on our own feet.
A 25-delegation, led by the JP chairman, attended the dialogue, but another JP leader, Rawshan Ershad, who was not present on the occasion, presented an eight-point charter of demands.
