No election date before July Charter declaration: Nahid Islam

National Citizen Party (NCP) convener Nahid Islam has said it would not be right to declare an election date before the July Charter takes effect.

He said, “Announcement of the election date before the declaration of the July Charter might disrupt the reform process.”

The NCP leader said this while speaking to newspersons following a meeting with chief adviser Dr. Muhammad Yunus at the Foreign Service Academy Auditorium today, Monday.

Nahid Islam said, “We said in the meeting that we have waited for sixteen years, and then waited a further ten months. We are willing to wait another two months and allow the government time, together with all political parties. Within these two months, we will present the July Charter, in which the public will be able to see a framework for governing the future Bangladesh, and an outline for fundamental reforms to the system of governance. We called on the government to announce a date for the election after the declaration of the July Charter. We will clear our party’s stance on when we believe the election should take place once the Charter is declared.”

The NCP leader also said they have no longer confidence in the election commission (EC) given the process they are following now. He claimed the EC’s neutrality is now under question, saying “Reform of the electoral system is the key to hold a free and fair election. We have demanded restructuring the EC through reform of the laws relevant to elections and the EC.”

He said their party raised three issues in the meeting. As part of that they enquired about the progress on the process of declaring the July Charter within the next 30 working days, as promised by the government.

“We saw it before that a date was set in January. Now, another commitment is made in the face of movement. We hope the commitment is kept this time. We also placed our demand to ensure declaration of the July Charter in consensus with all parties within July.”

Salahuddin Ahmed, a member of the BNP's standing committee; Ismail Zabiullah, adviser to the party chairperson; and barrister Ruhul Quddus from the BNP, Jamaat-e-Islami nayeb-e-ameer Syed Abdullah Mohammad Taher and assistant secretary general Hamidur Rahman Azad and leaders from various political parties including Ganosamhati Andolon chief coordinator Zonayed Saki also attended the meeting with the chief adviser.