The Islami Andolan Bangladesh (IAB) has announced its decision to not dialogue with Abdul Hamid, the president of Bangladesh, on the formation of the next Election Commission (EC).
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The ameer of IAB, Rezaul Karim, made the announcement at a press conference held at the party’s central office, in Dhaka’s Purana Paltan, on Saturday (January 1, 2022). He also demanded the formation of an interim national government during the elections.
Regarding not participating in the dialogue, Karim said that he was disappointed after participating in discussions in 2012 and 2016. He said:
“The Election Commission, formed following the 2012 dialogue, organised unilateral elections in 2014 to reflect the will of those in power, in which 153 MPs were shown to be elected unopposed.”
Moreover, the EC formed after the 2016 dialogue, held an extremely controversial and unacceptable election in 2018, which many called the “midnight election”.
‘The President Did Not Step Up To His Mandate’
Karim further said that the president did not take any disciplinary action. Apart from this, none of the IAB‘s constructive proposals to the president have been evaluated in the past two dialogues, in the interest of fair and credible elections.
“He could not go beyond the interests of the party that elected him as president… People [already] think that the president’s dialogue will not be fruitful. The previous talks have failed to meet the people’s expectations and there will be no exception this time.”
In the light of this situation, Karim said that the IAB does not consider it appropriate to take part in such a non-appealing and meaningless dialogue, against the aspirations of the Bangladeshi people.
Apart from addressing the dialogue with the president, the party had seven other demands. This includes fair elections under a party government, and the formation of an interim national government during elections.
As matters stand now, the EC‘s constitution has not passed by the current parliament. In my opinion, the constitutional commission should be formed via forming a constitutional council, consisting of political organisations and other stakeholders from the society.
Through them, the EC should then be formed.
The president’s dialogue with the political parties started on December 20, 2021, with the aim of forming an EC ahead of Bangladesh’s 12th national assembly elections.