The Election Commission is likely to assess the possibility of rescheduling the upcoming parliamentary polls at a meeting today.
Wishing not to be named, an election commissioner yesterday told the Dhaka Tribune that the meeting would discuss UN Assistant Secretary-General Oscar Fernandez-Taranco’s proposal for shifting the January 5 elections.
“He [Fernandez-Taranco] wanted to know if the elections could be shifted at this stage,” CEC Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmad told reporters at a press conference after his meeting with the UN envoy that had started at 11am.
The CEC told the UN envoy that “everything is possible if the political parties reach a consensus on it, but that must be within the rules.”
Rakibuddin said the UN assistance for holding the upcoming polls, among other polls-related issues, also came up for discussion at the meeting with Fernandez-Taranco.
He said the issue of consensus had been compounded as the political parties were yet to sort out their differences of opinion on the polls.
“We should not disclose anything more as the UN delegation has been trying to hammer out a solution to ensure participation of all political parties [in the next general elections],” said Rakibuddin Ahmad.
The BNP-led opposition alliance’s announcement of boycotting the elections under Sheikh Hasina’s interim government has put before the ruling Awami League the great challenge of keeping the Jatiya Party in the race. But Jatiya Party Chairman HM Ershad has threatened to follow the BNP’s path unless the current polls schedules are changed.
Fernandez-Taranco also had a meeting with BNP Senior Vice-Chairman Shamsher Mobin Chowdhury last night. The BNP leader later said the content of the one and a half hours-long meeting was “sensitive.”
“The party chairperson [Khaleda Zia] has a meeting with Taranco tomorrow, after which we will tell you everything,” he said.
On his five-day visit to the country, Fernandez-Taranco met Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Saturday and asked her if the polls could be shifted for accommodating the main opposition party. Hasina suggested that the UN envoy talk to the EC.
Fernandez-Taranco had a two-hour-long one-to-one meeting with Rakibuddin who later briefed some of the commissioners about the contents of the meeting.
Former CEC ATM Shamsul Huda sees no problem in changing the polls schedule now although eight candidates have apparently been elected uncontested.
“We changed polls schedules three times for holding an inclusive election. The commission has the authority to bring any changes to the schedule for a greater cause,” he told the Dhaka Tribune.
He said it was up to the EC to decide whether to reschedule the polls and how, or declare a fresh timetable.
Shamsul Huda said the precedence of changing election schedule would help the court to settle the issue if anyone challenged such decision.
After his meeting with the CEC, Fernandez-Taranco went to the Prime Minister’s Office for a meeting with Gowher Rizvi. He also had talks with the Jatiya Party Chairman HM Ershad and a group of civil society members later.
Jatiya Party Secretary General ABM Ruhul Amin Hawlader told reporters that Ershad had proposed shifting the polls date by at least 10 days and tagged the condition for ensuring participation of all political parties.
Dr Kamal Hossain, Dr Jamilur Reza Chowdhury, Dr Shahdeen Malik and Badiul Alam Majumder met Fernandez-Taranco at the Hotel Sonargaon.
Dr Kamal Hossain told the UN envoy that law did not stand in the way of deferring the polls. He said the attempted one-sided polls should be stopped.
Lawyer Shahdeen Malik said nobody wanted a one-sided election. “The elections in 2008 had 87% turnout. People want to see that kind of polls,” he told reporters.
SHUJAN’s Secretary Badiul Alam Majumder said the CEC had already said if there was a compromise, the election schedule could be extended.