Awami League has proposed to the President to make a law in accordance with the provisions of the constitution for the formation of the Election Commission (EC).

Obaidul Quader, general secretary of the party, said this at a press conference after leaving the dialogue at Bangabhaban on Monday (January 17). The press conference was held at the party's central office.

He said that the process of formation of Election Commission has to follow that system. Asked whether the law would be passed in this session, he said the present parliament would make every effort to get the law passed since it is people's demand. Every effort will be made. There is no problem to try.

In a written statement, Obaidul Quader said the Awami League respects the constitution and law of the country. Bangladesh Awami League has full confidence and trust in the deep knowledge, wisdom and discretion of the President of the People's Republic of Bangladesh in his long political life. We have full confidence in any just initiative taken by the President. The Election Commission is a constitutional body. The main provisions related to the Election Commission are mentioned in the Constitution of the highest law of the country (Articles 118-126).

In today's meeting we have raised a number of proposals regarding the appointment of Chief Election Commissioner and Election Commissioners.

The proposals are: The President shall appoint the Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners in accordance with the provisions of Article 118 of the Constitution.

>> In the process of appointing the Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners as the President deems fit, in the process he will appoint the Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners.

>> Appropriate law may be enacted subject to the provisions of Article 118 of the Constitution for the purpose of appointing the Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners. As there is no such law at present, according to the provisions of Article 118 of the Constitution, the President has no obligation to abide by any law other than the Constitution in appointing the Chief Election Commissioner and the Election Commissioners. However, in order to uphold the constitutional spirit, the law is required to determine the qualifications and disqualifications of the Chief Election Commissioner and other election commissioners and their appointment process. Any law regarding the formation of the Election Commission will be a special kind of law according to the constitutional provisions. There was no specific example in our political culture for this particular type of legislation. The Awami League is the only party to establish a political consensus on the formation of the Election Commission.

This constitutional practice is the formation of the Election Commission on the basis of the views and participation of all through the formation of the Search Committee / Inquiry Committee. This system has been practiced twice so far (2012 and 2017) and the Election Commission has been formed accordingly. Twice the representatives of all the political parties and civil society of the country participated in this exercise. In this case, a law may be enacted in the light of this practice and in light of Article 118 of the Constitution from this procedural experience.

>> In the interest of fair, free, neutral and transparent elections, it is necessary to ensure the use of more information technology in all elections.

A 10-member Awami League delegation led by party president Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina entered Bangabhaban at 3:56 pm.

Elections will not be fair under the present government. The BNP, the main opposition party on the streets has realized this after going to the polls more than once. For which the party demands a non-partisan caretaker government during the election period and has taken a firm stand in realizing this demand. New traps are being set to take the BNP to the polls under the party government. However, the party has said that it will not fall into any more trap of Awami League.

The BNP decided to boycott all elections under the Narul Huda Commission, alleging rigging in the city corporation elections and local government elections held in 2020 and 2021. The announcement was made by BNP secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on February 28 last year. After that the party did not take part in any other election. First they first announced a boycott of the election under the Huda commission. Later, the BNP decided to boycott the elections under the party government. Since then, the party has been adamant in its decision. Going beyond the decision and taking part in the Narayanganj City Corporation election, Taimur Alam Khandaker was expelled from all the posts of advisor to the chairperson and BNP.

A reliable BNP source told Barta24.com that the BNP is no longer going to the polls under the party government. That's for sure; this decision will not change. The decision came at a series of standing committee meetings held last September. This decision was taken on the basis of everyone's opinion. Now only the demand of the BNP is a non-partisan government. Not thinking anything out of it.

The BNP boycotted the process of forming the Election Commission out of adherence to the demands of the caretaker government. They did not respond to the President's call for dialogue. The BNP secretary general commented that the dialogue was meaningless. BNP has barred the parties from participating in the dialogue.

BNP organizing secretary Emran Saleh Prince told Barta24.com that the BNP would not participate in any election without a non-partisan neutral caretaker government. No election under the present government can be participatory and reflect the free will of the people. People's representatives will not be elected or a change of power will be reflected in the independent opinion of the people. That is the constant truth today. That is why we have rejected the President's dialogue. At the same time, we have rejected the call of the search committee.

"We will build a movement with the people to establish a caretaker government," he said we will force this government to resign. A non-partisan neutral caretaker government will be formed and a new election commission will be formed through them.

BNP secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said it was not possible to hold a neutral, fair and acceptable election under any circumstances under the present government. This fact has been proved in the 2014 and 2018 parliamentary elections and local government elections. So we think this illegitimate government should resign and power should be handed over to a neutral government. The only way to overcome the current crisis is to establish a people's representative parliament and government through a participatory election, which is acceptable to all under the auspices of a neutral election commission under a neutral government.

The main opposition party in the field did not seat idle demanding a caretaker government. Various activities are being carried out to realize the demand. New plans are being drawn up although no action has been taken in the field of corona restrictions, various preparations are being made. They are trying to convince development partners to put pressure on the government. Letters have already been sent to several friendly countries. At the same time, the process of a greater unity with the opposition is moving forward. The BNP has already held meetings with several parties. It will also interact with civil society step by step. They are trying to bring everyone to a consensus on a common issue.

Defeated Narayanganj mayoral candidate Taimur Alam Khandaker has been expelled from all posts of BNP for allegedly violating party discipline. The primary membership of the BNP has also been canceled.

The expulsion order was issued in a letter signed by BNP senior joint secretary general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi.

According to the letter sent to Timur, you were expelled from all the posts including the primary membership post of the party in accordance with the constitution of Bangladesh Nationalist Party, BNP in view of the clear allegation of being involved in anti-party activities. This decision will take effect immediately.

Dhaka: Just as the fratricidal conflict has stopped in the two eras of the Peace Treaty, so the peace has brought about harmony, prosperity and development in the CHT. This was stated by the experts at a roundtable discussion titled 'Harmony, Prosperity and Development: Chattogram Hill Tracts in the 21st Century' at Hotel Amari in the capital on Sunday (January 16) morning.

Planning Minister MA Mannan, who was the chief guest at the event, said, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has been making every effort to plan and implement the development work. Her position is clear in the role that the Prime Minister has been playing since the signing of the peace agreement. She (the Prime Minister) has also instructed us to take up more and more projects in the hilly areas. We are also making various plans, whenever the project comes to us, we pass it quickly. '

The Planning Minister further said, “The per capita expenditure on development of Chattogram Hill Tracts is much higher than other parts of the country. The government is determined to continue this trend of development in the future.

"Soon Chattogram Hill Tracts will be a symbol of wealth, peace and prosperity of the country," said Chattogram Hill Tracts Affairs Minister Bir Bahadur Ushaising. "To achieve peace and prosperity, we must all work together, openly and in the public interest," he said.

Bir Bahadur Ushaisingh said, “After the independence of the country, Bangabandhu visited the Chattogram Hill Tracts and took initiative to bring the backward people forward. As part of it, he formed the Chattogram Hill Tracts Development Board. The present government is working considering this region as important for the country, which is benefiting all the hill people.

The panelists at the roundtable discussion jointly organized by Bhorer Kagoj and ICLDS were Aroma Dutta MP from reserved women's seat, Naba Vikram Kishore Tripura, former chairman of Chattogram Hill Tracts Development Board, ICLDS chairman Ambassador Mohammad Zamir, ICLDS executive director Major General (Rtd) Md. Abdur Rashid, Former Chairman of University Grants Commission Prof. Abdul Mannan, Chairman of Chattogram Hill Tracts Development Board Nikhil Kumar Chakma, Former Ambassador Major General M Ashab Uddin NDC and Professor of Political Science Department of Chattagram University Dr. Mahfuz Parvez.

Shyamal Dutta, editor of Bhorer Kagoj, moderated the round table discussion.

The word Ivy-Shamim Osman is also closely associated with the word Narayanganj. Even if their party is one, if one is right, the other is left! In the battle of words, one did not hesitate to address the other person rudely. Even the central leaders of the Awami League tried to resolve the dispute but could not find any solution. And the upcoming election is really like ‘pouring ghee’ on that dispute!

The 'conflict' between Selina Hayat Ivy and Shamim Osman's family is very old. However, in the 2011 city elections, it 'burned like purple in oil'. Dr. Selina Hayat Ivy won the election as an independent candidate. She defeated her nearest rival Shamim Osman by a margin of 1 lakh 1 thousand 343 votes.

Then in the 2016 city corporation election, the Awami League relied on Ivy. And the people also put their trust in her for the second time. She was elected mayor by a huge vote. Ivy has twice been elected mayor of the city corporation. Following this, the Awami League has put its trust in Ivy by offering ‘boat’ again.

District Awami League general secretary Abu Hasnat, co-president of the metropolitan Awami League Chandan Shil and general secretary Khokon Shah, who are followers of the Osman family, sought nomination in this election but party president Sheikh Hasina handed over the ‘boat’ symbol relying on Ivy. Since then a new war of words has started.

Ivy's main rival in the election is Taimur Alam Khondaker, a former adviser to the BNP chairperson. However, the main rival was Taimur Alam Khandaker but all eyes were on Narayanganj-4 MP Shamim Osman. On the other hand, Shamim Osman was in a silent role from the beginning.

Selina Hayat Ivy made explosive remarks about Shamim Osman just when the discussion was at its peak.

Shamim Osman, a prominent political figure of Narayanganj, finally broke the silence as he was called 'Godfather' in the election campaign.

Ivy didn't stop at just saying 'Godfather'. She claimed that independent mayoral candidate Taimur Alam Khondaker was Shamim Osman's candidate. As a result, Shamim Osman came to a press conference to clear his position in Narayanganj city election. In addition to announcing his position at the press conference, he did not stop talking to Ivy. Although Shamim Osman announced to stay on the field for Awami League, the situation is still murky.

Shamim Osman spoke for 55 minutes at the press conference. "It simply came to our notice then. Narayanganj is boat base, no one else's game will be played here. From today I got on the boat campaign.”

He also took the name of the boat in the whole press conference, but did not take the boat candidate once. Selina Hayat is the name of Ivy. Rather, he said, ‘Who is the candidate here, who cares. It is not up to us to decide whether it is a banana tree or a mango tree.’

On the other hand, in the election campaign, Ivy commented on Tuesday, "It is not Shamim Osman but the people of Narayanganj who are my hope". Pointing to Shamim Osman's support, she said, "The tide of my boat has already risen. In this city Nabiganj, Bandar, Kadam Rasul, Sonakanda, Siddhirganj, across the river, Narayanganj boat tide has already risen. And this shows how far the water of conflict has flowed.

In the context of which many people think that the conflict was not resolved through this press conference, but new ‘kerosene was poured into the fire.’

Jahangir Alam, senior joint general secretary of Narayanganj district Awami League, told Barta24, "We came to Awami League politics through Chhatra League." I have obeyed the orders of the party. But the dissolved BCL committee of Narayanganj has gone against the boat. They have been working for more different candidates without campaigning, which is frustrating. For this they have been declared void. This leader said that it has been good for the party.

Many people think that Shamim Osman was forced to hold such a press conference under a lot of pressure. The party symbol announced to go down in favor of the boat candidate. Because, in Narayanganj, Shamim Osman and his followers are not in favor of the party's mayoral candidate; instead, some have been working for Ivy's rival independent candidate Taimur Alam Khondaker, it has been revealed in various ways.

It remains to be seen whether Selina Hayat Ivy or Taimur Alam Khondaker will win the Narayanganj city seat in the midst of such a game of words and conflict. The eyes of the entire country, including Narayanganj, will be on the results of the January 16 election.