It is now a daunting task for the Election Commission to defer the polls schedule as the deadline for submitting nomination papers has already passed, said a number of ministers.
Moreover, if any one of the candidates, likely to be elected unopposed, files a writ petition challenging the deferment it will push the country to a new crisis, they said. BNP has no scope for participating in the 10th parliamentary election as it has missed the deadline.
If a candidate elected unopposed files a writ petition against the decision of the EC it will create a new crisis and that does not mean “we are going to do it but we cannot assure either that someone will not do it”, said a minister in return for anonymity.
“We have no such plan but someone might file it if the EC takes the initiative to reschedule the polls schedule. In that case we have nothing to do,” he said.
If the move initiated by the foreign diplomats produces any conclusive result the EC will go ahead with the election.
When asked about the possibility of such move Communications Minister Obaidul Quader declined to comment on it.
“The EC has the sole authority. We will just assist them to hold a peaceful, free and fair election,” he said.
The minister went on to say that they had no option but to go for the polls in due time as per the constitution.
A move is on to come to a consensus. But, it’s yet to get any logical conclusion. The crisis may persist until and after the election, he doubted.
Meanwhile, Awami League Advisory Council member Amir Hossain Amu yesterday said the ruling party had no problem if the polls were to be rescheduled to a later date.
“But the matter is entirely up to the EC,” Amu, who is also the minister for land and disaster management, told reporters at his office.
Finance Minister AMA Muhith said citizens would not go for vote if an opposition did not participate in the election.
“That election will be questionable,” the finance minister told the reporters in reply to a question yesterday at his secretariat office.
The statement came after UN Assistant Secretary-General Oscar Fernandez-Taranco asked Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina if the polls could be deferred.
Amu asserted that Awami League could come to a political consensus with BNP but there would be no compromise with the war crimes issue.
The elections are slated for January 5.
Jatiya Party, which decided to participate in polls and joined the polls-time cabinet, is now demanding a deferral seeking elections with the participation of “all parties.” The main opposition BNP, however, has been against this polls-schedule from the very beginning.
