January 3 - Last day for withdrawal of Nomination papers

AL, BNP busy with last-minute changes in nominations

In the face of growing discontents among the deprived aspirants, the high-ups in the Awami League- and the BNP-led alliances are making last-minute attempts to tackle the situation by changing nominations in a number of constituencies. After nominating candidates initially and instructing them to submit nomination papers accordingly, the high-ups of both the parties were busy till Saturday finalising the candidatures which must be completed by January 2, the day before the withdrawal of nomination papers. Hectic lobbying by the deprived candidates, demonstrations by their supporters and restive situation in different constituencies after the announcement of initial candidatures forced the major parties to change some of the nominations.

The parliamentary board of the AL held a series of meetings on Saturday and Sunday to tackle the situation in different constituencies and decided to make some changes in the nominations. Awami League joint general secretary, Obaidul Kader said the parliamentary board, headed by the party president Sheikh Hasina, would announce final list of nominees after reviewing the situation and changes might be made in a very few constituencies. Meanwhile, supporters of the deprived candidates were seen agitating in front of Hasina’a Sudha Sadan residence on Saturday. Supporters of AL leader Mizanul Haque Mizan gathered in front of Sudha Sadan in the morning and staged demonstration demanding cancellation of the nomination of Jatiya Party candidate Majibul Haque Chunnu for Kishoreganj-4 constitueny. One of the agitators even tried to set himself on fire before senior leaders intervened.

Though the Bangladesh Nationalist Party asked all aspirants, excepting the candidates certified by the party, to withdraw their candidature by January 3, a number of them are making last-minute attempts to grab nomination lobbying the party high-ups. The party took a strategy of initially naming multiple candidates for each constituency to hide its final candidates from rivals but a number of them are not willing to withdraw nomination papers. Grassroots-level BNP activists in constituencies where the alliance’s candidates are from other partners of the coalition are also angry with the nominations. Activists in a number of constituencies where candidates are from Jamaat-e-Islami openly demonstrated against the nominations. Amid the restive situation, the BNP secretary general, Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan, was forced to issue an open statement asking ‘dummy candidates’ to withdraw candidature and threatened action if the instruction was violated.

Seat sharing almost finalised - Grand alliance

Awami League (AL)-led grand electoral alliance almost completed its preparations for contesting the upcoming election whenever it happens, according to alliance sources. Jatiya Party (JP) Chairman HM Ershad yesterday morning met AL President Sheikh Hasina in her Sudha Sadan residence in the capital and discussed the issue of seat sharing with her. AL General Secretary Abdul Jalil sat with Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) leaders in his Gulshan residence yesterday evening to discuss the same while LDP President Badruddoza Chowdhury was scheduled to hold talks with Sheikh Hasina at the time of filing this report late last night.

The sources said AL is likely to finalise its own candidates today and it was roughly decided that Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JSD) will contest in four constituencies, Gono Forum in three and Workers Party in four constituencies under the umbrella of the grand electoral alliance. According to the primary decision JSD will contest in Kustia-6, Chittagong-10, Panchagarh-1 and Sunamganj-4 constituencies while Gono Forum will contest in Cox's Bazar-1, Dhaka-3 and Manikganj-3. The constituencies Workers Party will contest for include Barisal-2, Rajshahi-2 and a constituency in Satkhira district. Zaker Party will contest in Faridpur-4 and Islami Oikyo Jote will contest in Narail-2, the sources added.

AL is also negotiating with Parbatiya Chattagram Jana Sanghati Samity, and Krishok Sramik Janata League to bring them into the fold of its grand alliance based on similar seat sharing.The sources said during almost two-hour long discussion Sheikh Hasina and HM Ershad finalised around 35 constituencies for JP to contest in and decided to continue their discussion on seat sharing as JP top leaders placed demands for a few more seats.

Army employed to tackle Hartal after 16 years -100 injured

The Jatiya Party (Ershad), Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and some Islamic parties at a grand rally on December 18 formally joined hands with the 14-party alliance. From that rally, they called the dawn-to-dusk hartal, demanding Iajuddin's resignation as the CA and immediate measures to create a level playing field before the upcoming general election.

Following the hartal yesterday, for the first time, since restoration of democracy through a mass upsurge in 1990, the government that too a caretaker employed the army to tackle political demonstrations in the city and elsewhere in the country. Deployed on December 9, following a unilateral decision of President and Chief Adviser (CA) Iajuddin Ahmed, the armed forces swung into action to disperse the pickets in Dhaka yesterday. The troops chased off supporters of the 14-party combine and its allies as the latter clashed with the police, damaged a couple of vehicles and set fire to another car in Shyamoli in the morning. Alongside the law enforcers, the military were on patrol across the city during the hartal hours. The BNP, however, stood up for the army's role, saying it is part of their [military] responsibilities to foil attempts to create anarchy.

The CA on December 13 ordered the army to be on standby and not to engage actively in routine law enforcement, but the home ministry did not issue any directives to the field level administrations in line with the decision, said sources. Meanwhile, CA Iajuddin Ahmed yesterday claimed that all conditions set by some political parties for participation in the upcoming election have been met, talking to the European Union delegation. Sticking to his stance on the army deployment, the CA told them that the armed forces have been deployed in aid of the law enforcement agencies to create and maintain an atmosphere congenial to free and fair election.

This time, the military deployment came 43 days before the polling day, which is January 22 according to the current schedule. In previous instances, the army was deployed only 14 days before the election in 2001, 18 days in 1996, and 23 days before the polls in 1991.

New Poll Schedule Disclosed, No change on Election Date -Election Commission

Election Commission rescheduled the polls timetable again, at the request of the advisory council of caretaker government,keeping in mind holding of election within the 90-day constitutional obligation.The council also requested Election Commissioner SM Zakaria yesterday to go on leave of absence and claimed that it has implemented the entire package proposal finalised 16 days ago although the proposals also included sending of Election Commissioner Modabbir Hossain Chowdhury on leave and appointment of new election commissioners to recast the EC.The council of advisers also decided not to appoint any new election commissioner although its package proposal had a deal in this regard.

A delegation of the AL-led grand alliance rushed to the EC yesterday afternoon and rejected the new timetable for the ninth parliamentary election, demanding announcement of election schedule after properly correcting the voter list first.
In line with the request of the council of advisers, the EC rescheduled the next election by extending the deadline for filing nomination papers by three days up to December 24.

The dates for other stages of the election were also re-fixed. In the new timetable, the date for scrutiny of nomination papers is December 28 and the date for withdrawal of candidature is January 3. The previous deadlines were December 22 and 28. The polling date, however, remains the same--January 22. The EC has to complete the election by January 25, the last day of the constitutionally stipulated 90-day period for holding election.

In reply to the demand of voter list correction, by AL-led grand alliance,the Election Commissioner said the electoral roll can be updated up to the day before election and the lists will be available at the district election offices for correction.

Following these latest developments towards resolving the existing political deadlock, the council of advisers hopes that all political parties will now participate in the election.

National Assembly Elections - 2007

Bangladesh is a parliamentary democracy, since Independence. Bangladesh started its journey with the Parliamentary System of Government, then switched over to the Presidential System and in 1991 reverted to the Parliamentary system. Its 1972 constitution has been amended several times. The president is chief of state and the prime minister heads the government.

The ruling government took power on Oct 2001 and the term ended on Oct 2006 . According to the current poll schedule, Bangladesh 2007 National Assembly Election will be held on January 22. The last date for filing nomination papers for the ninth parliamentary election will be December 21.

Bangladesh's political scene has been tumultuous since independence. Periods of democratic rule have been interrupted by coups, martial law, and states of emergency. In the midst of this confusing scene, there are 5 major political forces in the country. The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and its allies forming the right-of-center to conservative grouping in Bangladesh and is currently in power in Bangladesh. The current opposition is led by the Awami League (AL), which initially saw its birth as a socialistic organization but has now transformed into a center/center-left political stream. To the left are the pro-Soviet Bangladesh Communist Party, factions of the Jatiyo Samajtantrik Dal, and other socialist groups advocating revolutionary change. To the right is a group of parties, including Jamaat e Islami and Islami Oikyo Jote, who calls for an increased role for Islam in public life. The fifth major pary is the party founded by ex-military ruler General Ershad, the Jatiyo Party (JP) is ideologically not too different from the AL or the BNP but operates independently.

Election -2007

The ninth parliamentary elections are scheduled for January 2007, with political alliances led by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and Awami League (AL) in the fray. The main issues include poor performance and mal-governance, rise of extremism and, most importantly, holding free and fair elections despite a deteriorating law and order situation in the country.

The last five years rule was plagued with disapproval by the liberals and moderates. Despite this, the ruling alliance sought to strengthen itself and widen its electoral reach. The BNP and its two allies, Jamaat-e-Islami and Islami Oikya Jote, are likely to be joined by an entrenched political force, the Jatiya Party (JP) led by H.M. Ershad. This political alliance between ultra-rightists (Islamic Parties) and the BNP is of concern, as their political platform is anchored in an undemocratic military ethos, strong enough to defeat the liberal democratic forces. On the other side, BNP dissidents like AKM Badrudozza Chowdhary (Bikalpa Parisad) and Deputy Speaker of Jatiya Sansad, along with some MPs of the newly formed Liberal Democratic Party have joined the 14 parties opposition led by the Awami League, which has enthused this new alliance of liberal democratic forces.