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Fresh talks with parties start Oct 23

Poll atmosphere, qualitative changes in politics high on agenda

Staff Correspondent
The caretaker government will sit with political parties again this week for a second round of dialogues, aiming to reach a consensus on an atmosphere conducive to holding a credible election, a government adviser said yesterday.
The issue of bringing qualitative changes to the bodv politic will also feature prominently in the talks, he added.
"It is necessary to hold another round of talks to discuss the two issues. I hope we will be able to resume it by October 23," said Commerce and Education Adviser
Hossain Zillur Rahman.
Talks between the government and Awami League (AL) will be held at 2:30pm on October 23. The schedule for the talks with BNP will be finalised soon, sources in the government said.
Talking to The Daily Star AL Presidium Member Tofail Ahmed said that they would sit for another dialogue with the government on Thursday.
"Issues, including withdrawal of all false charges against our party chief Sheikh Hasina and her unconditional permanent release, withdrawal of state of emergency
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and deferral of upazila election will feature the talks,” he said.
Speaking to reporters after a meeting with three other advisers in Bangladesh Secretariat, Hossain Zillur said, "The political parties are talking about an election environment ind they might have many things to say. On the other hand, citizens expect qualitative changes in politics. We want to take all these issues to the talks."
He however skirted a question regarding whether the chiefs of Awami League (AL) and BNP — Sheikh Hasina and Khaleda Zia — will be barred from contesting in the stalled ninth parliamentary election.
The first round of talks between five advisers to the military backed caretaker government led by Chief Adviser Fakhruddin Ahmed and all major political parties started on May 22 and ended last Tuesday with a dialogue with BNP.
Although the dialogues, especially with AL and BNP, ended inconclusively, the government and the two largest parties agreed to sit for another round.
Hossain Zillur, who is acting as a mediator between the government and the parties, termed the ongoing registration of parties with the Election Commission (EC) 'a major step forward'.
"We are very delighted that we are getting over the registration hump," he said, welcoming BNP's and oilier political parties' move to get registered as parliamentary parties, adding that they acted 'responsibly*.
The adviser also welcomed the 'powerful' role the political parties played in helping the government move towards a 'fruitful political transition'.
Zillur said the government is preparing for the second round of talks. "We want to move forward step by step. The second round is a
step."
He said the dialogues with political parties and other stakeholders will continue through the run up to the election to create an atmosphere of trust and mutual confidence.
"I think the atmosphere of confidence will continue through having discussions for an eventual transition," he said.
Zillur told the reporters that the foremost responsibility of the caretaker government is to ensure a congenial atmosphere conducive to the election, for making sure that the parties may contest in the poll and the voters may exercise their right to universal franchise successfully.
About barring corruption suspects from contesting in the election, he said the political parties must decide on the issue. "They will discuss and decide on selecting their candidates," he added.
Law Adviser AF Hassan Ariff, Communication Adviser Ghulam Quader, and LGRD Adviser Anwarul Iqbal also attended the meeting.