#Title

Regain people’s faith
FROM PAGE 1
He claimed Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen requested the US to take steps for bringing the BNP back into elections. “It is a matter of shame that such a request was made to the US … It is the commission’s job to earn the confidence of all political parties.”
Daily Ittefaq Editor Tasmima Hossain proposed a staggered national election, saying that such an important election should take place division-wise following a reshuffle in the administration.
New Age Editor Nurul Kabir said people lacked confidence in the Search Committee that recommended the names to the president for appointing the current CEC and other commissioners. “You [EC] will have to work to bring that confidence back.”
Daily Samakal Advisory Editor Abu Sayeed Khan said it would be better for the EC to avoid EVMs in the polls.
Daily Prothom Alo’s Associate Editor Anisul Hoque said local government and other elections would be a litmus test for the EC before the next Jatiya Sangsad polls.
Daily Jugantor Editor Saiful Alam said it should be ensured that the administration and law enforcers cannot influence the EC during any elections.
Daily Samakal acting editor Muzzammil Husain said journalists are often harassed when they cover polls, so the “highest level of access” of the media must be ensured during polls.
Daily Observer Editor Iqbal Sobhan Chowdhury said creating political consensus is not the duty of the EC. “It should rather create an environment in which a political party will feel that it will fall behind other parties if it does not take part in an election.”
Business Standard Editor Inam Ahmed said different laws are used to tie up the media during election time. Whether these laws can be relaxed during that period should come under consideration, he said.
Daily Ajker Patrika Editor Golam Rahman, columnists Ajay Dasgupta, Bhibhu Ranjan Sarkar, Daily Jugantor Senior Assistant Editor Mahbub Kamal, among others, spoke at the programme.
The Daily Star Executive Editor Syed Ashfaqul Haque, four election commissioners, and top officials of the EC Secretariat also attended the talks.

Tunisia hits back at Erdogan ‘interference’
AFP, Tunis
Tunisia has summoned Turkey’s ambassador in protest against “interference”, the foreign ministry said yesterday, after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan criticised his counterpart in Tunis for dissolving the country’s parliament.
President Kais Saied sacked the assembly last week, eight months after suspending it and seizing wide-ranging powers in a decisive blow against the democratic system born out of the country’s 2011 uprising, which sparked the Arab Spring.
Tunisia’s fragmented parliament has long been dominated by Ennahdha, an Islamist-inspired party close to Erdogan’s ruling AKP and a bitter foe of Saied.
The Turkish leader had on Monday criticised Saied’s latest move as a “blow to the will of the Tunisian people” and a “smear on democracy”.
Saied, a populist who has railed against outside influence since his July 25 power grab, told Foreign Minister Othman Jarandi that he rejected “all interference in any form” in Tunisian affairs, a Tuesday evening statement from Saied’s office said, without directly mentioning Erdogan.
The foreign ministry issued a statement on Tuesday voicing “surprise” at Erdogan’s comments, which it called “unacceptable interference” in Tunisian domestic affairs.
Yesterday morning, it said Jarandi had spoken by telephone with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, as well as summoning Ankara’s ambassador in protest.
Ennahdha’s close ties to Turkey under the AKP have long been controversial in the North African country, where many are proud of a long tradition of secularism.
Saied has been repeatedly criticised by Western governments and human rights groups for his moves against Tunisia’s post-revolutionary system, which have sparked fears of a return to autocracy 11 years after the overthrow of dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.
The US and France both voiced “concern” after he dissolved parliament, but Tunisian authorities have not publicly responded to either.