Staff Correspondent

Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) has placed a series of demands to the chief adviser including formation of a new election commission (EC) on the consensus of major political parties and announcement of polls roadmap.

BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said this to journalists after emerging from the dialogue with Chief Adviser Professor Dr Muhammad Yunus at his official residence on Hare Road today.

“A new election commission should be constituted immediately based on the consensus of major political parties after suspending the Election Commission Appointment Act,” he said.

A six-member delegation of BNP led by its secretary general joined the one-hour dialogue, which began at 2:30pm. BNP joined the talks as the first political party as part of the dialogues with the political parties at the invitation of the chief adviser. Later, Jamaat-e-Islami led by its Ameer Dr Shafiqur Rahman joined a dialogue with the chief adviser.

Mirza Fakhrul said during the Awami League regime, an act was passed in parliament transferring the national identity registration operation from the Election Commission to the Security Services Division, Ministry of Home Affairs.

"We demanded cancellation of the act through imposing an ordinance," he said. BNP also placed a demand that no controversial person to be included in the election commission reform commission, he said.

The party also demanded removal of all public representatives elected in fake elections in union parishads during the fascist government, he added.

"We demanded that all chief election commissioners and other election commissioners to be brought to justice for holding farcical, failed and biased national elections in 2014, 2018 and 2024," said the BNP secretary general.

Mirza Fakhrul said Prof Yunus informed them that the interim government's first priority is to hold the elections.

Asked about the chief adviser's response to their demands, "They are thinking that these are demands of the people and our demands are also theirs as well".

The BNP delegation included the party's standing committee members Dr Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain, Mirza Abbas, Dr Abdul Moyeen Khan, Nazrul Islam Khan and Salahuddin Ahmed.

Terming former Chief Justice ABM Khairul Haque as the mastermind behind scrapping the caretaker government system and ruining the Constitution, Mirza Fakhrul said they demanded sedition charge against him (Khairul).

Mirza Fakhrul said they demanded removal of the cohorts of fascism who are still holding positions in administration, cancellation of the appointments of those against whom complaints have been raised and all contractual appointments of the fascist regime.

“We have demanded promotion with retrospective effect of those government officials who were deprived of promotions in the last 15 years,” he added.

About the judiciary, he said they have informed the chief adviser that maximum appointments in High Court Division were made on partisan basis and around 30 judges are still working in the division.

The BNP’s demands necessary legal actions regarding the judges, removal of some politically biased judges and making fresh appointments of PPs and GPs immediately, he said.

The BNP secretary general said the party demanded withdrawal of all false and ghost cases filed since 2007 including Sheikh Hasina’s regime.

He said they demanded of the interim government to look into the matters on how former ministers are fleeing the country and who are supporting them.

“Ousted dictator Sheikh Hasina is now in India. We have urged the government to hold talks with Indian government over the campaigning and propaganda which are being spread by her and centering her from India. We’ve requested the interim government to talk to Indian government to shift her (Hasina) from her that position,” he added.

Fakhrul said they demanded actions against those who are responsible for unrest in Chattogram Hill Tracts and immediate arrest of those who are involved in enforced disappearance and killings.

A team of the UN has come to Bangladesh but this team is not getting support from concerned departments, he said, adding that this issue was raised during the talks with the chief adviser.

This was the third phase of dialogues of political parties with the chief adviser. Earlier, the interim government held dialogues with political parties on August 31 last.