Acceptable EC can be formed with opinions from all parties: President

President Abdul Hamid hopes that an acceptable Election Commission (EC) will be formed by taking opinions from all registered political parties in Bangladesh.

Joynal Abedin, press secretary of the president, said this on Monday after the president's dialogue with Jatiya Party, the main opposition political party in the country, over the formation of the next Election Commission.

"The term of the current EC will end in February so the president hopes the dialogue will be able to facilitate the formation of an acceptable commission that will be able to conduct all elections, including national elections, fairly and impartially," said the press secretary.

The president sought the cooperation of all political parties and civil society to make this process a success, continued the press secretary.

The president will eventually hold dialogues with 31 out of 39 political parties registered with the EC before appointing the next chief election commissioner (CEC) and other commissioners.

Meanwhile, an eight-member delegation of the Jatiya Party, led by Party Chairperson GM Quader, has put forward three proposals to the president while taking part in the two-hour dialogue. The party's key proposal was making new laws in line with the constitution before forming a new EC.

GM Quader said, "Jatiya Party thinks it is possible to make a new law to form a new EC within the time available. If the government thinks there is not enough time, then perhaps, the president can issue an ordinance in this regard which can later be turned into law. If even that is not possible, then a new commission can be formed by forming a search committee,"

JP has also proposed four names for the search committee and has proposed a name for the member of the commission as well, however, Quader did not disclose either name.

On 22 December, dialogue will be held with Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (Jasod), on 26 December, the president will talk with Bangladesh National Awami Party and Bangladesh Somajtantrik Dal, and on 27 December, conversation with Bangladesh Tarikat Federation and Khelafot Majlish will be held.

Further talks will be held with the Bangladesh Workers Party on 28 December and Bangladesh Nationalist Front (BNF) and Islami Oikya Jote on 29 December.

It is important to note here that the president needs to form a new EC before the expiration of the tenure of the current EC on 14 February 2022. The new EC will conduct the next national elections.