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Union parishad polls

AL, BNP assure CEC of cooperation

By Staff Correspondent
With the election of more I than 4.000 union parishads | nearing. Chief Election Com-I missioner (CEC) Mohammad 1 Abu Hena yesterday exchanged views with leaders of the ruling ■ Awami League and the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist | Party (BNP) on the ways of ensuring free and fair polls.
Two delegations of the AL and BNP separately met the CEC at his office and assured • him of cooperation in holding a । free and fair election, meeting sources said.
[ The four* member BNP dele-
gation led by party Vice Chairman M K Ari war MP met Abu
Hena in the morning while the three-member AL team led by Joint General Secretary of the party Mozaffar Hossain Paltu met him in the afternoon.
The Election Commission (EC) is scheduled to conduct election of 4.330 UPs out of a total of 4.468 in December.
The CEC briefed the leaders about the preparations and steps taken for holding free and fair polls, an EC press release said adding that he also noted down some suggestions put forward by the leaders.
Although BNP had reservation about the appointment of Abu Hena as the CEC. party
leader M K Anwar last night told this correspondent that he had no doubt about the CEC’s intention to offer the nation a free and fair election’ and assured him of cooperation in this regard.
"But we still do not know, as to how the EC will ensure free and fair polls when the government seems to consider it nothing more than a ministry under the ruling party", he said.
Requested to substantiate his observation, the BNP leader said, "the government of Sheikh Hasina reiected. a few weeks back, the findings of an
EC-sponsored high level probe committee as it disproved the government claim of 'massive irregularities' in implementing the ID card project."
The EC. a constitutional body obliged to act independent of any interference from the ex ecutive wing of the state, is not expected to comply with the whims of any government, the BNP leader said. "But the reality is that the EC did not ade-ouately assert its position on this issue." he told this correspondent, adding that he had communicated his views to the CEC during the meeting.
The BNP delegation, how ever, put forward some sugges tions that included imposing a ban on entry and stay of outsiders in a constituency 48 hours ahead of the polling The CEC assured that lie would consider the proposal, meeting sources said
The ruling party delegation also assured the CEC of cooper ating with him in conducting the polls in a free and fair manner They also gave some suggestions to ensure a peaiehil election