LDP wants poll timeframe, bar on war criminals

Dhaka, Dec 11 (bdprem.com) – The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) chairman Oli Ahmed Tuesday asked the Election Commission to declare without delay the timeframe for national elections and bar war criminals from running. In the electoral reforms dialogue, the LDP chief said the EC should help the nation restore its confidence in the good intentions of the EC by announcing the polls schedules, which, after pressed by journalists, he rephrased as timeframe. The EC has declared a timeline that schedules the national polls for end-2008. Led by Oli, a 12-member LDP delegation took part in the meeting with the EC represented by the chief election commissioner, one election commissioner, the secretary and other officials. At the beginning of the dialogue Oli said, "There is confusion about the roadmap of the Election Commission. People are not sure yet whether the election will be held or not. The country is in doubt about the elections." "This is no ordinary time, people are passing through a tough time. People will get back their faith if the commission declares the schedule." CEC Shamsul Huda said, "We have spelled out timeframe for the election. The deadline for the elections is December 2008, according to the declaration. The [poll] may come forward. "Earlier we estimated nine crore voters. But now we see that the voters may not be more than seven crore." "It will take less time for registering voters with photos. So we can declare the time frame earlier," Huda said. "We won't do anything that might disrupt the parliamentary elections. That's why the Union Parishad elections will not be held before the national elections. "We are working for elections in the city corporations. The army is doing the job at the request of the Election Commission. The commission is leading and coordinating the work." Huda said the consultative dialogue on reforms would end after talks with BNP. "We are waiting for the order of the court. We will finish the session if the court resolves the matter soon." The LDP placed a number of proposals including full autonomy for the Election Commission, declaring the anti-liberation forces and war criminals unfit for the election, setting the academic qualification for the would-be lawmakers at honours degree at a minimum and SSC for Union Parishad candidates. The LDP chairman later told reporters that by schedule he meant a particular time frame. "We have asked the Election Commission to announce a time frame by which the elections will be held." Oli earlier said they did not have faith in the EC's activities but later changed tone to say, "The Election Commission is working sincerely. Their work is challenging." Fifteen political parties have so far discussed the electoral issues after the EC started the electoral reforms dialogue on Sept 12.