President’s talks with parties begin today [ Tritiyo Matra News ]

President’s talks with parties begin today

Local December 18, 2016

The president, Abdul Hamid, is scheduled for today to sit for talks with the Bangladesh Nationalist Party at Bangabhaban kicking off his talks with registered political parties on the reconstitution of the Election Commission.
BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia would lead a 13-member delegation at the talks scheduled for 4:30pm with her proposals for the reconstitution of the commission based on consensus.
BNP secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir and members of BNP standing committee, the party’s highest policy-making body, would be on the delegation, party leaders said.
Earlier on December 12, the president invited five political parties including BNP to the separate talks in the first phase on appointment of chief election commissioner and other election commissioners.
The tenure of the incumbent commission would expire in February, 2017.
BNP senior joint secretary general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi at a briefing at the party’s central office on Saturday said that BNP was expecting the president to form such a commission in which all political parties, particularly ‘large’ political party BNP, might have confidence.
Replying to a question, he said that at the talks, BNP would focus on the proposals placed by Khaleda Zia on the reconstitution of the commission based on consensus.
The commission has always been criticised by the opposition parties and different quarters as the ruling parties enjoy the monopoly power to appoint the chief election commissioner and other election commissioners in absence of a law on the appointment.
Khaleda, also former prime minister, unveiled the proposals for the reconstitution of the commission based on consensus through a search committee to be formed on the basis on consensus among the registered political parties.
The proposals placed at hotel Westin in the capital on November 18 suggested that the commission should be strengthened amending the Representation of the People Order 1972 and setting up a full-fledged sec retariat of the commission with financial autonomy.
Khaleda proposed five amendments to the 1972 order including reinstitution of the Defence Services of Bangladesh as law enforcing agency during elections.
She proposed a five-member search committee headed by a retired chief justice as convenor, and a retired judge of the Appellate Division, a retired secretary, an educationist or a widely respected eminent citizen and a widely respected senior woman, as its members.
People who had ever held any office of profit in the service of the republic, a retired cabinet secretary or a retired secretary who had worked at the Prime Minister’s Office would not be eligible to be a member of the committee.
According to the proposals, the president would form the search committee based on consensus among the registered parties who would recommend two people for each of the positions on the committee in writing to the president.
The president may involve qualified and impartial representatives of the civil society as well, said the proposals.
A former head of any constitutional body, a non-partisan retired secretary or an eminent citizen would be eligible to be the chief election commissioner, said the proposals.
People who ever held any office of profit in the service of the republic, a retired cabinet secretary or a retired secretary who worked at the Prime Minister’s Office would not be eligible to be the chief election commissioner or an election commissioner.
Khaleda proposed that four people, including a woman, could be appointed as election commissioners from retired civil, military and judicial officers and civil society.
Each party will recommend two people for each post in the commission to the president.
The president will send the recommendations to the search committee for choosing two people for each post in the commission.
The president will make the final appointment to the commission, said the proposals.
On December 12, the president initiated the move to hold talks with registered political parties and invited to the talks five parties – BNP for today, the Jatiya Party faction led by HM Ershad for December 20, the Liberal Democratic Party and the Krishak Sramik Janata League for December 21 and the Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal faction led by information minister Hasanul Haq Inu for December 22.
On December 6, Rizvi and BNP vice-chairman Ruhul Alam Chowdhury handed over to the assistant military secretary to the president two copies of Khaleda’s proposals as the party had failed to get an appointment with the president.