Not govt tactic, just an invitation for informal talks: CEC on letter to BNP

Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Kazi Habibul Awal said on Tuesday that the letter the Election Commission had sent to the BNP was not a government tactic.

"We sent a letter addressing the BNP secretary general inviting them to sit for an informal discussion. The letter was sent on 24 March," said the CEC during a press briefing.

The CEC, however, stressed that the invitation was not for a formal dialogue.

"We did not invite them for a dialogue. Dialogue is formal. We have clearly said that they [BNP] can come to the informal discussion. We extended the invitation to them very humbly. But many want to say it is a ploy of the government," he said.

"We want to inform the entire nation, to assure, that the government has nothing to do with this letter. If one wants to consider it as a tactic, it should be the Election Commission's, not the government's. And the Election Commission never did this as a trick," the CEC added.

Kazi Habibul Awal further stated, "The letter that we sent was not advised by the government. We feel upset when we are told that we work as per the directives of the government. In this commission, we have five commissioners. We think and discuss about the election. We think that it would be better if the BNP participated in the polls."

"There is no guarantee that a discussion would always bring positive results. But we should continue the effort," he said.

The current Election Commission, led by Kazi Habibullah Awal, held two rounds of talks with the political parties since its formation last year. However, BNP and some other political parties did not participate in the talks.

Mirza Fakhrul on Saturday said the Election Commission's (EC's) letter inviting BNP to talks is nothing but the latest strategy of the government to hold another election by depriving people of their voting rights.