Dhaka – Apparently giving a nod to deferring the national election if
there is no legal obstacle, Chief Election Commissioner Kazi
Rakibuddin Ahmad on Sunday told visiting UN Assistant
Secretary-General for Political Affairs Oscar Fernández Taranco that
many things can be done if all the political parties reach a
negotiation.
Reading out a written speech before reporters about the commission’s
meeting with Taranco, the CEC said the UN envoy asked them whether it
is possible to defer the January-5 general election.
“We’ve told them (UN) that many things are possible to do if there’s
any negotiation among all the political parties. But everything has to
be done within the legal framework,” Rakibuddin said before leaving
his office.
He, however, told the UN envoy that the issue (deferring election)
turned complicated as there is no progress in sight for an
understanding through talks though two weeks have already elapsed
since announcement of the election schedule.
The CEC on November 25 announced the schedule for the general election
fixing the voting date for January 5 amid BNP’s boycott threat.
Earlier, a six-member delegation led by Taranco went to the EC
secretariat around 11.00 am and sit in a parley with the CEC at the
latter’s office till 12:27pm.
Reading out his first-ever written speech, the CEC said, “We’ve
apprised the UN delegation of all the aspects of our election
preparations. Different issues related to the election have been
discussed at the meeting.”
Declining to go into further details regarding this, Rakibuddin said,
“We shouldn’t go into the further details right now as the UN
delegation tries to convince all stakeholders for holding a peaceful
and credible election with participation of all parties. We should
rather be hopeful (of compromise).”
Five other members of the UN delegation are Director of UN Electoral
Assistant Division Craig Jennesss, UN Political Affairs Officer Sonja
Bachmann, UN Senior Mediation Expert Marie-Joclle Zahar, UN Resident
Coordinator (Bangladesh) Neal Walker and Taranco’s Special Assistant
Gianluca Rampolla.
Before the meeting with the CEC, the UN envoy held an hour-long
meeting with Jatiya Party chairman HM Ershad at the morning.
The UN delegation, led by Taranco, also met a team of civil society
led by Dr Kamal Hossain on Sunday noon.
Members of the civil society conveyed the UN delegation that there is
no legal bar to deferring the election schedule saying that the
running train of the one-sided election needs to be stopped.
On Friday evening, Taranco arrived here amid the country’s murky
political situation that has cast a shadow on its January-5 general
election.
The UN envoy had meetings with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and
Opposition leader Khaleda Zia on Saturday evening.
On Saturday, Taranco started his Bangladesh mission by holding
meetings with Foreign Secretary M Shahidul Haque and Foreign Minister
AH Mahmud Ali. Later, An Awami League delegation led by its general
secretary Syed Ashraful Islam met Taranco at Sonargaon Hotel in the
city.
Taranco will leave Dhaka on December 10 and report back to the UN
chief on the outcome of his Bangladesh visit ahead of the election. –
UNB
