AL, allies give govt 24 hours to implement

bdpublic · Editor Joined: 30 Nov 2006 Posts: 39

The Awami League-led alliance will accept the 90-day timeframe stipulated by the constitution for holding the general elections, only if the caretaker administration fully implements its ‘package proposals’ including recasting the Election Commission.
The combine on Friday warned that it would launch a one-point movement to force Iajuddin Ahmed to resign as the chief adviser, if his government failed to send the two ‘controversial’ election commissioners on leave within the next 24 hours, that is, by this evening.
If the ‘controversial’ commissioners continue to work in the EC after this evening, the alliance will lay siege to the Bangabhaban, the AL general secretary and coordinator of the alliance, Abdul Jalil, told a press conference at a city hotel.
Besides top leaders of the alliance, representatives from the Liberal Democratic Party and Zaker Party were present at the conference and seconded Jalil’s statement.
Earlier, in a written statement, Jalil reiterated the demand for changing the election schedule by compensating for the 40 days, which he claimed the caretaker government had lost by not restructuring the EC and updating the voters’ roll as per the Supreme Court directives.
‘We’ve demanded an atmosphere congenial to free and fair elections by removing the controversial persons from the EC, updating the voters’ roll as per the High Court directives, de-politicisation of the administration from top to bottom, and declaring the election schedule after making up for the 40 days already lost,’ he said.
He rejected the new election schedule, saying, ‘The election schedule was supposed to be declared after the full implementation of the deal. This move is a breach of that commitment.’ He said the newly announced election date of January 23 coincided with Saraswati Puja, a Hindu religious festival, and so the Election Commission should rethink about the date.
Jalil said a lot of work including updating of the voters’ roll and reshuffling of field-level officials and the top brass of various intelligence agencies were yet to be done for ensuring credible elections, adding that, considering these facts, it would not be possible for the alliance to contest the polls.
Accusing the chief adviser of trying to back away from his own proposals, Jalil alleged Iajuddin was deceiving the people by implementing only part of the package.
‘The advisers promised that two impartial persons would be appointed as election commissioners by sending the controversial ones, SM Zakaria and Mudabbir Hossain Chowdhury, on leave. But what the government now says is different,’ he said.
He said the interim government did make some changes at the secretary level but that was not enough to make it ‘politics-free’.
Dubbing Iajuddin as a puppet of Hawa Bhaban, the AL general secretary alleged that the chief adviser was merely carrying out a conspiracy hatched by the BNP-Jamaat alliance to hold a farce of an election, adding that the nation would not participate in such a mock ballot.

Source: The New Age
http://www.newagebd.com/front.html#3

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