National elections likely in December, what political parties think

The interim government is considering holding the national elections in the last half of December this year. The election commission is also preparing to hold the 13th national parliamentary election accordingly. The political parties are preparing for the polls too.

While the major political party of the country Bangladesh National Party (BNP) wants the national election to be held within this year, Jamaat-e-Islam is unwilling to give any deadline in this regard. They want the election to be held after the required reforms. In the meantime, the Jatiya Nagorik Committee do not want parliamentary polls this year, they want elections to the constituent assembly.

At this juncture, the interim government will start talks from tomorrow, Saturday, with the various political parties regarding the recommendations put forward by six reform commissions. It is not clear for how many days these talks will continue. It is expected that by means of these talks a consensus will be reached for the implementation of the reform recommendations and a roadmap for the national elections.

After the fall of the Awami League government in face of the student-mass uprising, an interim government was formed with Dr Muhammad Yunus as the head. One of the major objectives of this government was to bring about reforms in various sectors. To this end, 11 reform commissions were formed. The commissions regarding reforms related to the constitution, the election system, public administration, police, judiciary and the anti-corruption commission have handed in their recommendations. The 'national consensus commission' will start talks with the various political parties regarding these recommendations from tomorrow.

Political analysts say, though it is placing emphasis on reforms, the interim government is failing to bring law and order as well as other sectors fully under control. Under the circumstances, if an election government is not installed as soon as possible, things might take a different turn, some feel.  BNP and a few other political parties have stepped up their demand for general elections.

Chief advisor Muhammad Yunus has mentioned 16 December of this year as a tentative date for the national election. He has said, there can be a certain degree of reforms and then the election in in December 2025, or there can be more reforms and the election in mid-2026.

According to concerned sources, six months since the interim government took over power, pressure has been stepped up for elections. The government is now pondering over holding the election in December this year. However, no final decision has been taken in this regard so far. Many quarters have also been demanding that local government elections be first held and then the national election. The government has no announced any decision to this end as yet either. These matters will be decided upon during meetings between the consensus commission and the political parties.  

Meanwhile, addressing a session at the World Government Summit at Dubai yesterday, Thursday, chief advisor of the interim government Dr Muhammad Yunus said his government would arrange the election as soon as possible. This might be in December this year. Later in an interview with the UAE-based media outlet The National he said he is holding the election will be held around December this year. However, if a bit more time is given to carry out reforms, that might take three more months of the coming year. The chief advisor said that this was their deadline. He said they would be satisfied to hold a credible, visible and transparent election after 16 years. The people will celebrate it and our responsibility will end, he said.

Speaking to Prothom Alo, law advisor of the interim government Asif Nazrul said, "The chief advisor from the very outset had been mentioning two timelines for the election. One was within December 2025 and the other was within June 2016. From the chief advisor's words it is apparent that the government's first aim will be to hold the election by December 2025 and before that to certainly reach a consensus with the political parties regarding certain fundamental reforms. If for any reason it is not possible to hold the election by December this year, it may be pushed back by two or three months, but certainly before June."

The election commission (EC) has several times said that they are preparing for the national election in December in accordance to the chief advisor's words. EC sources say that if they want to hold the election in December, they will need to complete preparations by October. Broadly speaking, the major preparations to be carried out before the election are, updating the voter list, demarcating the constituencies, registering new political parties, registering observers and making the necessary procurements. This takes some time. Tasks such a recruiting and training, polling officials, preparing ballot papers, and such tasks, begin after the election schedule is announced.

Work is underway to update the voter list. This will be complete by June. But the updated data will be added to the voter list in March next year. If the election is held before that, then certain amendments to the law may be required to ensure the voter rights of those who are newly becoming voters.

EC sources say, as it is it cannot begin work immediately on certain tasks like boundary demarcation, registering political parties and observers, and such. The electoral reform commission has certain specific recommendations in this regard. Amendments of the law and the rules will be required to implement these. The reform commission has also recommended several amendments in the election-related Representation of People Order. They are now awaiting decisions in this regard. If a decision is taken to implement the recommendations of the reform commission, an ordinance can be passed, the laws changed and the EC can get on with the next step of its work. In the meantime, EC has asked for a Tk 28 billion ( Tk 2800 crore) allocation for the national election.

While putting pressure on the government to hold the elections as soon as possible, BNP is also preparing for the polls. From Wednesday it has launched a programme for several demands including for an election roadmap. BNP is also holding talks with like-minded parties as well as religion-based parties outside of Jamaat-e-Islami. BNP sources say they are holding talks basically so that the parties take up the same stance regarding the election. Understanding regarding seat sharing is also an important part of the talks.

A BNP delegation called upon chief advisor Dr Muhammad Yunus on Monday to discuss the prevailing political situation. BNP sources say that during the meeting the chief advisor reassured them that the interim government has started work aimed at holding the national election in December. This reassured the BNP standing committee. However, they cannot be fully assured until an election roadmap is announced.

Speaking to the media yesterday, Thursday, BNP secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said, the sooner the national election is held, the easier politics will be and the people of Bangladesh will gain a sense of stability. It is important on two grounds to have the elections held soon. One is for the stability of Bangladesh and the other is for good governance.
Jamaat-e-Islami, which had been an ally of BNP in the past, has also begun preparing for the polls. They have begun selecting candidates for 300 seats in the parliament. They have even announced the names of certain candidates locally. However, unlike BNP, they are unwilling to set a deadline for the election.

A delegation of Jamaat visited the election commission yesterday and put forward a 23-point demand. Speaking to newspersons after the meeting, Jamaat-e-Islami's secretary general Mia Golam Parwar said they had clearly maintained, "No elections without reforms." He said, the parliamentary election must be held after the reforms of at least the institutions and departments involved in the electoral process. If that did not happen, the election would not be free and fair. It would be a repetition of the last three elections where the people could not cast their votes.

Meanwhile, it is not clear whether Awami League will be able to take part in the next election or not. There are demands in the political arena to ban it or keep it away from the election, after it had held three controversial and rigged elections and established an autocratic rule through enforced disappearances and killings over the past 15 years in power.

BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami also have differences over the issue of holding the local government elections before the national election. After the meeting with EC yesterday, Jamaat's secretary general said, the people want local government elections first.

Responding to that, BNP's secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir told newspersons that wanting the local government elections before the national election is simply a political ploy to render the country even more unstable.

While having certain differences in political views, chief coordinator of Gono Sanghati Samity, Zonayed Saki, is in favour of going ahead with the reforms and the election side by side. Speaking to Prothom Alo, he said that elections are a part of reforms. However, certain reforms are required before the election. And an election is required for certain structural reforms including of the constitution.

The students who had a leading role in the mass uprising are forming a political party. This party will be launched this month. Leaders of the Students against Discrimination movement and Jatiya Nagorik Committee will be at the helm of this party. They want reforms before the election. From the very outset Jatiya Nagorik Committee and the Students against Discrimination movement have been calling for reforms before the election. They feel that if reforms are to be brought about in the country, the constitution must be reformed at first. If the national election is held without reforming the election, the objectives of the reforms will be harmed. That is why they want the election to the constituent assembly to be held first, followed by changes in the constitution. Then the election is to be held in light of the new constitution.

Convener of Jatiya Nagorik Committee Nasiruddin Parwari, speaking on Thursday to Prothom Alo, said, "If the parliamentary election is held without the reforms first, the blood of the July mass uprising martyrs will go in vain. If the election is held under this constitution, the election will not be credible. That is why election to the constituent assembly must be held first. We want the constituent assembly election in December."

Speaking to Prothom Alo, political analyst Mahbubullah said he personally feels that the reforms just needed for a fair election should to be carried out. The elected government must certainly carry out the remaining reforms. From the overall situation it seems that the election will be held in December-January. The interim government has made a statement to this end too. It is positive that the government and the political parties are in communication, are holding discussions.