The Awami League has urged the Election Commission not to push back further the 11th general election, now slated for December 30, as it will invite legal complexities over the polls.
"You [commission]have deferred the election thrice already. But you should not delay the election again even for a day or for an hour," HT Imam,the co-chairman of the ruling party’s National Election Conducting Committee,said on Wednesday.
He was briefing reporters after a meeting between a 12-member Awami League team and the commission officials, headed byChief Election Commissioner KM Nurul Huda,at the Election Commission office in Dhaka’s Agargaon, reports UNB.
Arguing for his party's stance over not delaying the vote further, Imamsaid if the election was deferred even to January 1, hundreds of thousands of young people would become eligible to be registered as new voters by the time.
"If such voters arenot registered, anyone of them can file a petition with the court and the election will be spoiled immediately," he said.
Besides, he said, textbooks would have to be distributed among schoolchildren at the beginning of the New Year while Biswa Ijtema at Tongi is scheduled to be held in January.
The Awami League Advisory Council member said that many were demanding deferment of the election without considering its consequences.
Pointing at the Jatiya Oikya Front, he said: "Today [Wednesday], they again demanded deferment of the election."
Earlier, an Oikya Frontdelegation, led by Dr Kamal Hossain, held another meeting with the Election Commission and demanded deferment of the polls by three more weeks.
Violation of the code
HT Imam said that they urged the Election Commission to take measures against the violation of the electoral code of conduct that occurred in front of the BNP headquarters in the capital on Wednesday.
"What happened at Naya Paltan is a clear violation of the electoral code of conduct...BNP has breached the code of conduct. We think today's incident is a punishable offence. We urged the commission to take measures in this regard and they said they will consider the matter,” he said.
He said no such incident occurred during the collection and submission of Awami League's nomination forms at the party president’s office at Dhanmondi. "There was huge crowd, but no clashes took place.”
Imam, also the political affairs adviser to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, said they asked the commission to exercise their authority strictly.
"We have clearly said that now the Election Commission is the government. The power is in the hand of the Election Commission. So, they should exercise their power," he added.
Awami League’s Organising Secretary Dipu Moni questioned if the demand for deferment of the vote was an effort to spoil the election.
The other ruling party delegation members included Moshiur Rahman, Md Rashidul Alam, Mohibul Hassan Chowdhoury Nowfel, and Biplab Barua.
Apart from the CEC, the four other elections commissioners were also present at the meeting.