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Meetings with Taranco

AL wants no change in polls schedule

Partha Pratim Bhattacharjee
The ruling Awami League yesterday told UN Assistant Secretary-General Oscar Fernandez-Taranco that it does not want any change in the polls schedule.
At a meeting with the visiting UN official, they also insisted the government would not take any steps beyond the constitutional limits, meeting sources told The Daily Star last night.
Amir Hossain Amu, Tofail Ahmed, Syed Ashraful Islam, Gowher Rizvi, Faruk Khan, Mahabubul Alam Hanif and former diplomat Shahed Reza represented the AL at the two-hour long meeting at Hotel Sonargaon in the afternoon.
Fernandez-Taranco said the UN doesn't want the government to go beyond the constitution, but it wants to see a peaceful election contested by all political parties. He also stressed the need for creating a level playing field for all political parties ahead of the election.
He asked the AL leaders whether anything could be done to bring all the parties in the electoral race by staying within the constitutional framework.
The AL delegation, in response, requested him to make suggestions in this regard. Fernandez-Taranco said he did not come here with any fixed solution to the crisis. Fie would rather be looking to initiatives to ensure that all the parties contest the election.
"He told us he would discuss the matter with the other stakeholders and sit with us again," said an AL leader who was present at the meeting.
The AL team said if the EC changed the polls schedule, any aggrieved person might file a writ petition with High Court challenging the deferment.
The 10th parliamentary election is scheduled for January 5.
About the UN official's concern over the
arrest of top BNP leaders, the AL stalwarts said the BNP was a "terrorist party" and the law enforcement agencies rounded up the opposition leaders for "instigating violence."
Briefing reporters about the meeting, AL spokesperson and General Secretary Syed Ashraful Islam said the election would be held on schedule.
He expressed hope that the discussions with UN assistant secretary-general would be fruitful.
"We discussed nothing specific. The talks today were preliminary. We will meet again, and things will get clearer then," he mentioned.
At the start of the meeting, Fernandez-Taranco appreciated different development measures and projects by the incumbent government. He also praised the prime minister for calling BNP chief Khaleda Zia and offering her to sit for talks.