'BNP won't hold any discussion with EC'

Bangladesh Nationalist Party on Tuesday said it has decided to not hold any talks on the 12th parliamentary election with the election commission.

The party came up with the decision at a virtual meeting of its standing committee, highest policymaking forum of the party, with acting BNP chairmen Tarique Rahman in the chair.

BNP secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir and other members of the standing committee joined the meeting.

A reliable source of the party told Prothom Alo the meeting discussed the letter sent by the election commission on 23 March to invite the party for talks on the 12th parliamentary election. The meeting unanimously decided not to hold any talks with the election commission.

BNP policymakers think there would be no benefit by holding talks with the election commission on the upcoming polls because the commission is biased towards the government and it will not exercise its authority to hold a neutral election.

Several members of the BNP standing committee also think the commission sent the letter to BNP as part of its ‘strategy to avoid pressure’ of the democratic world and it is useless to discuss the national election with the commission unless anything on a poll-time election is decided, the source added.