Editorial
EC's talks with political parties
Pave the way for an accord on electoral reform
The resumption of the dialogue between Election Commission and the political parties on February 24 should inject dynamism into the otherwise lacklustre atmospherics related to electoral preparations. The dialogue stalled for more than two months due to a legal dispute over the question of who should represent BNP is now being rightly pushed forward pending High Court judgement on the issue -- not taken the earlier decision to invite one faction of BNP and not both.
The second phase of talks scheduled from February 24 to 28 with 15 political parties, to the exclusion of BNP for the time being, is to clear the deck for the caretaker government to initiate a national dialogue next month with the political parties aiming to hold a credible parliamentary election in due time. However it must be kept in mind that BNP's absence in the dialogue process is a serious gap in the whole process.
The politicians' talks with the EC have before them the electoral reform agenda and that with the caretaker government are envisaged to produce a national consensus on reforming the political structure so that we do not revert back to pre-1/11 situation. Thus the dialogue is an important stepping stone to the second one.
The stakes are high for the political parties as well as for the government whose collective responsibility it is to steer clear of all controversies towards fulfilling the overarching national agenda for free, fair, fully participated and credible election by end-2008, if not before.
Our hope is that all political parties would cooperate unhesitatingly in avoiding any posture that could deter the progress of talks. Of course, the talks cannot be conclusive without taking the BNP on board; that is why we urge that the legal dispute over legitimate representation of BNP be resolved at the earliest -- one way or the other.
The overriding fact that all concerned must bear in mind is that the political parties, the electorate and the government, going by its oft-repeated commitments, are all eager to hold the election sooner than later. There should be no reason why such unwritten consensus cannot be sealed as an accord among all concerned to hold the election according to the road map.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel.
Comments