Major opposition platform Jatiya Oikya Front will unveil its manifesto for the 11th general election on December 17.
It will be unveiled at 11am on the day at a program at Hotel Purbani International in Dhaka, according to a press release issued on Thursday.
Oikya Front’s chief coordinator Mostafa Mohsin Montu also sent a letter to the Dhaka Metropolitan Police commissioner on Wednesday in this regard, informing them of the program and seeking their assistance in organizing it.
What is in the draft manifesto?
According to the draft manifesto, the key issues include citizens’ security, measures to stop arrests by plainclothes policemen, extrajudicial killings, scrapping the Digital Security Act, and reducing the backlog of cases.
“If Jatiya Oikya Front takes office, it will stop ‘gunfights’ on the very first day. A commission will be formed to amend the constitution,” said manifesto panel member Iqbal Siddiqui.
Other pledges include: ensuring a standard education system, scrapping public exams like the Primary Education Certificate and Junior School Certificate for fifth and eighth graders respectively, holding a centralized admission test for all public universities, and holding student union elections in all academic institutions_ all within a year of taking office.
The alliance also emphasized on ensuring a balance of power and decentralizing the administration.
“We will create a balance of power by recruiting 50% of parliamentary committee members from the opposition. We will formulate a law to bring the change. The deputy speaker will also be from the opposition,” said Zafrullah Chowdhury, chief of the manifesto panel.
He said they will also include a law barring a prime minister from serving two consecutive terms. The power of the president will be boosted and the head of state will not have to consult the prime minister.
In the manifesto,the alliance may also pledge to bring back the provision of referenda.
“We will create a commission to form a provincial administration. It is not possible to govern a country of 170-180 million people from Dhaka,” said Zafrullah, who is also the founder of Ganashyastho Kendra.
However, a panel member said that BNP objected regarding the issues of provincial administration and barring the prime minister from serving two consecutive terms.
The electoral pledges might also include lifting the age limit in government jobs, except for the police and armed forces; allowance for unemployed youths over 30 years old; and recruitment in all vacant government jobs_ within three years of assuming power.
The manifesto may also include bringing the perpetrators of bank and stock market scams to justice_but some panel members doubt whether it will appear in the final version.
Other pledges include: security for women, road safety, food safety, and programs to alleviate poverty.
During a BNP council held in 2016, BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia pledged to create a balance of power between the president and the prime minister.
She said, if elected to power, her party will take measures to convert the parliament into two houses. The former prime minister also pledged to probe all extrajudicial killings and deaths in custody.
When was the front formed and who are in it?
The Jatiya Oikya Front is a platform of political parties led by Gono Forum President Dr Kamal Hossain. It includes BNP, Dr Kamal-led Jatiya Oikya Prokriya, ASM Abdur Rab’s Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JSD-Rab), Mahmudur Rahman Manna’s Nagorik Oikya, and Abdul Kader Siddique’s Krishak Sramik Janata League.
It was formed on October 13 with demands of dissolving the parliament and host a free and fair general election under a neutral government, and the release of BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia from jail.
The alliance participated in two dialogues with the ruling Awami League in the first week of November.
Following the dialogues, it decided to participate in the upcoming 11th general election slated for December 30.
The coalition also announced that it will use BNP’s "sheaf of paddy"as its electoral symbol.
