MUNICIPAL POLLS : AL-JP want MPs in campaign

The ruling Awami League and its alliance partner Jatiya Party on Sunday demanded the Election Commission let lawmakers take part in electioneering in the forthcoming municipal polls while the Bangladesh Nationalist Party was opposed to the idea.
Separate delegations of the parties placed their demands with the commission on the day relating to the civic elections of 234 municipalities on December 30. The polls are going to be under direct political banner for the first time.
The chief election commissioner Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmad, however, said the EC would take a decision on the demand today.
‘We heard the demands of the delegations of the parties. We will declare our decision on their demands after discussing with the other top officials of the commission on Monday,’ he told reports at the commission secretariat.
A six-member Awami League delegation, led by its joint general secretary Mahbubul Alam Hanif, met the chief election commissioner Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmad around 12:30pm and demanded that a provision be there in the election code of conduct to pave the path for lawmakers to join the electioneering in the civic polls.
Emerging from the meeting, Hanif told reporters that they came to the EC to file an objection regarding a provision of the election code of conduct that lawmakers will not be allowed to take part in electioneering.
Hs said that the commission should drop the provision as lawmakers have no executive power and enjoy government benefits and they have constitutional rights to participate in electioneering.
Other members of the delegation were AL leaders Dipu Moni, Jahangir Kabir Nanok, Khaled Mahmud Chowdhury, Afzal Hossain and Abdus Sobhan Golap.
Around 2:50 pm, the delegation of BNP, led by the party chairperson’s advisor Osman Faruk placed some other demands with the EC including rescheduling of the polls through deferring it by a minimum 15 days, an immediate end to mass arrest of opposition leaders and activists in the name of joint operations, release of the party leaders including acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir and activists and supporters arrested in false ceases, transfer of  Upazila Nirbahi Officer and officer-in-charge of concerned municipalities, incorporating new 50 lakh voters who would be enrolled as voters on January 2 next and allow only the election-oriented organisations as election observers.
The other members of the delegation were party leaders Shamsuzzaman Dudu, Suza Uddin, SM Abdul Halim, Moazzem Hossain Alal and Syrul Kabir Khan.
Jatiya Party also demanded the Election Commission extend the deadline for submitting the nomination papers for the municipal polls by 10 days from December 3.
The party came up with the demand when its five-member delegation, led by its secretary general Ziauddin Ahmed Bablu, met CEC Rakibuddin Ahmad at the EC secretariat around 11:30 am.
Talking to reporters after the meeting, Ziauddin said that the party earlier urged the CEC to extend the deadline for submission of nomination papers but the CEC informed them that it won’t be possible for legal complications.
Earlier the EC announced that the deadline for the submission of nomination papers was December 3 while the dates for the scrutiny were December 5 and 6, and the last date for the withdrawal of candidature was December 13.
Other members of the delegation were party presidium members Syed Abul Hossain Babla, Kazi Firoz Rashid, Salma Islam and M Saidur Rahman.

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