BNP says partisan, AL claims neutral [ Tritiyo Matra News ]

BNP says partisan, AL claims neutral

Local January 28, 2017

The Bangladesh Nationalist Party on Friday said that the ‘controversial’ search committee could never form a neutral Election Commission while the ruling Awami League urged its key political opponent to keep confidence in the president.
BNP secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir made the comment at a press conference at the BNP central office and Awami League joint general secretary Mahbubul Alam Hanif made the remarks at a reception of AL labour secretary Habibur Rahman Siraj at Dhaka Dental College at Mirpur in Dhaka.
Fakhrul said that the search committee was controversial as it was formed with people who were reliable to AL and rewarded for extending cooperation to fulfil the government’s desire.
The government made another undemocratic example defying public opinion, he added.
Hanif urged BNP leaders to keep confidence in president Abdul Hamid.
‘The president formed the search committee after holding talks with the political parties and you the BNP leaders should keep confidence in the president who would reconstitute an Election Commission acceptable to all,’ Hanif said.
Hanif claimed that the president formed the six-member search committee with non-partisan people.
The president on Wednesday formed the six-member search committee headed by Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain of the Appellate Division for recommending names for the appointment of the chief election commissioner and other election commissioners as the tenure of incumbent commission would expire on February 8.
Justice Mahmud had also led the previous search committee formed by the late president Zillur Rahman in 2012 and his committee had recommended the incumbent chief election commission and the four election commissioners.
Fakhrul said that the government made the same Justice Mahmud the head of the search committee as it wanted to make another ‘subservient’ and ‘inept’ commission like the incumbent commission led by Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmad.
Describing the backgrounds of the members of the search committee, Fakhrul said that there was no scope to consider the search committee as non-partisan or neutral.
He said logical proposals given by BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia and other political parties for the formation of the search committee were ignored.
Asked whether BNP rejects or accepts the search committee, Fakhrul said that the question of rejection or acceptance might come up once the commission was formed.
Replying to another query, he said that BNP would not appeal to the president for reviewing the search committee.
About Awami League advisory council member Tofail Ahmed’s remarks that BNP should wait without being frustrated, Fakhrul said that AL wanted to misguide BNP by saying so.
Hanif said that BNP was criticising the search committee saying that the committee was nominated by Awami League, but AL gave no name for the search committee.
Dhaka City north Jatiya Sramik League organised the reception programme, chaired by its president Delwar Hossain Chowdhury. Its organising secretary Amzad Hossain, central general secretary Sirajul Islam and others spoke at the function.
BNP leaders including Goyeshwar Chandra Roy, Amir Khoshru Mahmud Chowdhury, AZM Zahid Hossain and Ruhul Kabir Rizvi were present at BNP’s press conference.