Decision on deferral of poll schedule today: EC
AL-led alliance writes to EC for contesting polls with boat symbol
STAFF REPORTER, Dhaka
The Election Commission (EC) yesterday said a decision on deferment of the next national election would be taken today following requests from several political parties. Chief election commissioner (CEC) KM Nurul Huda told reporters: Were getting requests from different political parties to defer the national poll. Well take a decision on the deferment after discussions on Monday. Earlier, political parties and alliances had urged the EC to reschedule the poll, saying they needed a few more days to complete their preparations.
The newly formed Jatiya Oikyafront yesterday urged the EC to defer the election by one month. The Oikyafront sent a letter, signed by Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) secretary general Mirza Fakrul Islam Alamgir, to the EC yesterday, urging the commission to defer the polls by a month.
On the other hand, Jukta Front leader AQM Badruddoza Chowdhury yesterday sent a letter to the EC, urging it to reschedule the poll on December 30 instead of December 23.
Badruddoza Chowdhury, in his letter, said: We have closely observed the election schedule. It will be difficult to complete all electoral procedures like taking nominations from the candidates, scrutinising them and interviewing them within such a short time.
The nomination submission should be deferred by one week to November 26 from November 19 for the sake of selecting honest candidates. The scrutiny should be set for November 26 instead of November 22. The withdrawal of nominations should be on December 5 instead of November 29, he added.
The Awami League (AL) said the decision for deferment of the election was solely in the hands of the EC. The party said that it had no objection in this regard as different political parties were demanding it.
Meanwhile, the AL-led 14-Party Alliance yesterday, in a letter to the EC, said it would be using the electoral symbol boat while contesting the next parliamentary election under the alliance. A delegation of the AL-led alliance, led by AL organising secretary Mohibul Hasan Chowdhury Noufel, submitted the letter to the commission and briefed journalists about the alliances decision.
The Jukta Front, too, sent a letter to the EC yesterday, seeking clarification on the use of the poll symbol. It wanted to know whether political parties in the Jukta Front which are going to use a common electoral symbol, kula, to take part in the poll would face any problems while contesting the election on their own.
Earlier, the EC had said if political parties wanted to take part in the 11th parliamentary poll under an alliance or coalition with a common electoral symbol, the alliance had to inform the EC within three days of the announcement of the schedule.
The Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JASAD) yesterday sent a letter, signed by party president Hasanul Huq Inu, to the EC, saying it would contest the polls under the 14-Party Alliance with the electoral symbol boat. The Krishak Sramik Janata League also sent a letter to the EC, saying the party would contest the poll with the Jatiya Oikyafront electoral symbol.
They parties have requested the commission to take steps following their letters. The EC said as per Article 20 (1) (a) of the Representation of the People Order (RPO), 1972, if more than one political party forms an electoral alliance to contest an election, a single electoral symbol can be allocated to the alliance. If the alliance wants to get the common symbol, the alliance has to inform the commission within three days of the poll schedule being announced.
The commission announced the schedule on November 8. The last date of submission of nomination papers is on November 19; the scrutiny of nomination is on November 22; and the withdrawal of nomination is on November 29.
