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The political parties which took part in the dialogue with the Chief Adviser on Saturday expressed their views on the electoral roadmap.
BNP prioritised the announcement of an electoral roadmap as soon as possible after conducting key reforms but some other parties prescribed completion of basic reforms before holding the next general elections.
"A new Election Commission will have to be formed immediately based on the consensus of major political parties suspending the Election Commission Appointment Act. We have asked to give a roadmap when the election commission will hold the election," BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said while talking to reporters after the dialogue with the Chief Adviser.
On the other hand, Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami proposed two distinct timelines-one for implementing effective reforms and another for holding elections.
"There will be a roadmap on reforms and another roadmap will be on the election. If reforms are successful, elections will also be successful. That's why we have put emphasis on these two issues. There will be more dialogues with them," Ameer Dr Shafiqur Rahman told reporters after his party's talks with Chief Adviser Prof Muhammad Yunus.
Besides BNP and Jamaal, several other parties including Communist Party, Islami Andolon, Hefajat E Islam, Gono Odhikar Parishad and AB Party, took part in the dialogue held in the State Guest House Jamuna.
Communist Party secretary Ruhin Hossain Prince said that the interim government should not be involved in reforming all sectors, rather they should concentrate on electoral reform for holding a free and fair election.
AB Party proposed to hold election in 18 to 24 months and Islamic Andolon prescribed reforms to ensure free and fair polls.
Briefing the journalists on the second phase of dialogue between the Chief Adviser and the leaders of the political parties, Md Shafiqul Alam, Press Secretary to the Chief Adviser, said that the government would carry on the preparations for elections besides the work of the reform commissions.
"There will be another round of dialogue with the political parties after the government receive the reports of the reform commissions,” he said adding that elections will be held after the parties reach consensus on the reform proposals.
Addressing the briefing, Mahfuj Alam, special adviser to the CA, said that the CA sought opinions from the parties about the reform commissions’ areas of work.
Besides law and order, security for the smooth celebrations of the Durga Puja was discussed, he added.
Responding to a question he said that the advisers should be given time to see whether they were able to carry out their responsibilities properly.
Responding to another question he said that the government took the issue of price hike of essential commodities very seriously.
“Work started to dismantle the market syndicate and extortion and hopefully we will have a good result very soon,” he mentioned.
About the demands of the parties for removal of the officials, who aided the previous government, Mr Alam said that the government had a clear stance on trial of all the persons inside and outside the administration who were involved in killings and atrocities.
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