Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina plans to lead a ten-member delegation of the Awami League party at a dialogue with President Abdul Hamid on the formation of the next Election Commission (EC) at Bangabhaban on Monday, the ruling party said.
President's Press Secretary Joynal Abedin told UNB on Sunday that the President’s meeting with the Awami League delegation is scheduled for 4pm.
The delegation will also comprise of the party general secretary Obaidul Quader, members of Awami League advisory council- Amir Hossain Amu and Tofail Ahmed, and presidium members- Begum Matiya Chowdhury, Sheikh Fazlul Karim Selim, Dr Muhammad Abdur Razzaque, Lt Col (Retd) Muhammad Faruq Khan, Jahangir Kabir Nanak and Abdur Rahman.
President Hamid opened the dialogue on the formation of the next EC on December 20.
According to Bangabhaban press wing, 32 political parties were invited in phases to join the talks, while the parties which have representation in the parliament were invited in the first phase.
On the other hand, seven political parties declined to take part in the dialogue.
The country now has 39 registered political parties, according to the EC website and only nine of them have representation in Parliament.
The nine parties are Bangladesh Awami League, Jatiya Party, Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), Bangladesh Workers Party, Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal, Bikalpadhara Bangladesh, Ganoforum, Bangladesh Tarikat Federation and Jatiya Party.
The current EC is scheduled to end its five-year term in February next.