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Talks on, so is confusion

CEC now says date for polls schedule not decided yet

Staff Correspondent
Confusion runs high over a "secret dialogue" between Awami League General Secretary Syed Ashraful Islam and BNP acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir.
A day after the reported talks at a BNP leader's house in the capital's Gulshan, the main opposition party in a statement yesterday denied having any parleys with its archrival. The AL has yet to make any comment on the matter.
So far, Information Minister Hasanul Haq Inu is
the only person to publicly admit that the dialogue actually happened. "Such a meeting will help create an atmosphere conducive to holding a free and fair election. More of these meetingswill beheld."
The BNP statement came two hours after its Standing Committee Member ASM Hannan Shah acknowledged that the secretary general-level meeting took place, but failed to achieve anything.
However, in the statement signed by Joint Secretary General Rizvi Ahmed, Hannan claimed he was misquoted by the media.
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Contacted, a party standing committee member said, "The meeting indeed took place. But if you ask me to speak on the record, I have to stick to the party line and deny that it happened."
According to him, during the talks Fakhrul placed a set of demands, which Ashraf was supposed to discuss with the prime minister yesterday and then return to Fakhrul with feedback in a day or two.
Some BNP leaders said they were denying the fact as Ashraf could not give any assurance that its demand for installing a non-party government would be met.
Off the record, party insiders said they were doing so on instructions of Khaleda Zia.
Confusion is running high also over the announcement of the polls schedule, as the Election Commission continues to make contradictory statements.
Earlier reports suggested the commission would announce it by the middle of this month.
But last evening, Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmed said the commission was yet to decide the date for announcing the schedule.
On Friday, Election Commissioner Shah Nawaz told reporters that the polls schedule would be announced "by Sunday or Monday" of
this week.
Another commissioner told this newspaper that the schedule might be announced tomorrow. "But I cannot confirm it," he said, requesting anonymity.
There were speculations throughout the day yesterday that the EC would make the announcement, and many officials were seen busy preparing necessary documents.
Several officials told The Daily Star that they had prepared all the documents and the EC could announce the schedule if it wanted to.
But in the evening, the CEC told journalists: "We have not held any commission meeting over the issue. No decision has been made in this regard. You will know everything about it very soon."
The meeting may be held tomorrow or the day after, he added.
Whenever the announcement comes, it is certain to face strong resistance form the BNP-led 18-party alliance. The opposition has all along said it would not participate in the election if it is not held under a non-partisan caretaker government.
Recently, the BNP has even threatened to resist any polls under Hasina administration.
Party policymakers are now finalising strategies to ramp up agitation by boosting up leaders and
supporters of the alliance.
BNP insiders say the government may try to foil the opposition movement by "staging a dialogue drama". Apprehending this, the party has decided not to contact or sit with the AL unless it gets an assurance that its demand would be fulfilled.
HANNAN ADMITS, HANNAN DENIES
Speaking at a discussion at the Jatiya Press Club, Hannan said: "The talks between our party acting secretary general and the Awami League general secretary could not bring any positive outcomes.
"There was no agenda for the talks. That is why there was no significant outcome. Throughout the talks Ashraful Islam just said he would not be able to say or do anything. His leader |Sheikh Hasina] will make the decision regarding our demand."
But in the party statement, he later said: "My speech today [yesterday] at the Jatiya Press Club that BNP acting secretary general Fakhrul Islam Alamgir and the Awami League general secretary held a so called dialogue was reflected wrongly in the media. My speech in this regard was based on reports published and aired in the media.
"But later I was confirmed by the party's acting secretary general that the news of holding any talks is baseless."