After a series of dialogues between ruling the Awami League and other political parties and alliances – both allies and opposition, hopes of a settlement over the type of administration that will oversee the 11th general election is, however, still lingering.
Prime Minister and Awami League chief Sheikh Hasina on November 1 started holding talks in a bid to reach a consensus over various political issues. The talks ended on Wednesday.
Among the parties and alliances with which the ruling party held dialogues, the five major ones were the Gono Forum President Dr Kamal Hossain-led Jatiya Oikya Front, Bikalpa Dhara Bangladesh president AQM Badruddoza Chowdhury-led Jukta Front, Jatiya Party Chairman HM Ershad-led United National Alliance, Islamic Democratic Alliance, and the Left Democratic Alliance.
The dialogues saw some common demands from most of the opposition parties – dissolution of parliament before the election, restoration of an impartial polls-time government, no use of electronic voting machines, deployment of army during the polls, reformation of the Election Commission, and delaying the announcement of the election schedule.
The talks initially brought many positive outcomes with the ruling party meeting some of the demands completely and some partially.But the hope of reaching a resolution has started to somewhat fade away as an impasse is taking shape, with both sides reportedly sticking to their guns on some core issues.
Awami League has said it cannot go beyond constitution in some issues, while opposition parties are adamant that these issues can be resolved in light of constitutional provisions if the government wants.
