EC formation: AL starts talks with president

President Md Abdul Hamid started talks with the ruling party Awami League (AL), led by its president and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, over forming an acceptable Election Commission (EC), at Bangabhaban in Dhaka on Monday.

As the ongoing “Presidential Dialogue’’ with country’s registered political parties draws near to its end, Awami League sat with the president at the Durbar Hall in Bangabhaban, the official residence and principal workplace of the president of Bangladesh.

Other members of the 10-member delegation are:  AL General Secretary Obaidul Quader, advisory council members Amir Hossain Amu and Tofail Ahmed, presidium members Begum Matia Chowdhury, Sheikh Fazlul Karim Selim, Dr Mohammad Abdur Razzaque, Lieutenant Colonel (Retd) Muhammad Faruk Khan, Jahangir Kabir Nanak and Abdur Rahman.

President's Press Secretary Joynal Abedin said that the President invited a total of 32 political parties, including the AL, for a dialogue on forming an independent, neutral and credible EC.

On December 20, the first day of the ongoing dialogue with the political parties, President Hamid started a dialogue with the Jatiya Party, the main opposition in the Jatiya Sangsad (Parliament).

Meanwhile, a total of seven political parties, including the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), refrained from taking part in the dialogue.

A dialogue was held with the participation of political parties ahead of the ninth, 10th and 11th parliamentary elections.

The President has been given the power to appoint the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) and more than four Election Commissioners.

In the last few terms, the President formed the EC on the basis of the recommendations of the Search Committee.

The current EC's five-year tenure is scheduled to expire on February 14 next.

During this period, the President will form a new EC, under which the 12th Jatiya Sangsad (JS) elections will be held.