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Govt to sit with parties early April

Aims to forge consensus on parliamentary code of conduct, to sustain reforms, anti-graft drive

Ashfaq Wares Khan
The much-awaited dialogue between the caretaker government and political parties might open early next month to discuss crucial national issues including the long-stalled general election.
The government policymakers
want the parties to commit themselves to continuing the anticorruption drive and institutional reforms and preventing a relapse into the situation preceding the present administration's takeover on January 11 last year.
"A code of conduct for the next ruling and opposition parties might be drawn up to do away with
practices like parliament boycott, hartal and violence-filled street agitations," an adviser to the caretaker government told The Daily Star yesterday, asking not to be named.
Faced with continual price hike of essentials and the Call from donor agencies and diplomats for
an immediate start of the dialogue, the military-backed administration now does not want to wait for the Election Commission (EC) to wrap up the electoral reforms talks first to begin its own, said insiders.
An official announcement will be made soon after the government finalises matters relating to negotiations with the political parties, they added.
"How long can they afford to wait," a person close to the advisory council told The Daily Star yesterday, explaining the reason why the government is planning to begin the talks in the first week of April.
Chief Adviser Fakhruddin Ahmed in his address to the nation on January 12 announced that the council of advisers had decided in favour of having dialogue with the political parties. He also said his administration would soon take steps to that end.
But later, a number of advisers said the government's talks would not take place before the EC completes its reforms dialogue that seems to have lost way in legal quagmire stemming from leadershipdispute in BNP
The commission began second round of its talks on February 24 and had discussions with 15 parties in five days. But it could not finish off the job since it must wait for the BNP issue to be resolved at the High Court.
“The government should have begun the talks soon after its decision to that end on January 10. Things could have been much better in that case,” observed the adviser.
Those who have been invited to the electoral talks are likely to be asked to join the discussions with the government too.
The political parties look to raise
a myriad of current issues while the caretaker government would want them to reach a consensus over vita) national Issues.
Complete withdrawal of restrictions on indoor politics across the country would figure in the topics of the talks, a source said.
Besides, a decision on whether to relax or lift the state of emergency might come after the dialogue.
Earlier in February, the EC urged the chief adviser to lift the restrictions on indoor politics countrywide at the end of March to allow the political parties to resume their activities and prepare to register with it by June.