EC urged to bar JaPa, 14-party alliance from electoral talks

Gono Odhikar Parishad (GOP) on Wednesday urged the Election Commission (EC) not to invite Jatiya Party and the members of the Awami League-led 14-Party Alliance to its electoral dialogue which is set to start on Thursday  ahead of the national election.

The party also called upon the Commission not to allow any person who participated in the 12th parliamentary election to contest the upcoming general election even as an independent candidate.

“We request the Election Commission not to invite the Awami League‍‍`s allies, the Jatiya Party, and the 14 parties, who participated in the 2024 dummy election and pushed the country towards destruction by legitimising the elections held under Sheikh Hasina, to any dialogue,” GOP General Secretary Md Rashed Khan told reporters after a meeting with Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) AMM Nasir Uddin at Nirbachan Bhaban in the capital.

He said the Jatiya Party and the 14 parties should not be invited to the Election Commission‍‍`s dialogue on plea of having registration.

“We asked the Election Commission to hold a dialogue with only those parties that participated in the discussion with the National Consensus Commission. Otherwise, if the allies of fascism get the opportunity to have a dialogue with the Election Commission, it will be a betrayal of the blood of the students and the people (sacrificed during the 2024 July Mass Uprising),” he said.

Rashed Khan said Awami League leaders in the last 16 years earned huge money by looting and illegal activities and they have adequate illegal money.

So, he said, if the Awami League leaders holding party posts get the opportunity to participate in the election as independent candidates, they may be involved in a conspiracy to sabotage the election through the use of money and muscle power.

“We, in the written petition, requests the Election Commission to clarify its position by taking appropriate steps so that no banned Awami League leader or activist gets the opportunity to participate in the election even as an independent candidate in order to make the elections free and fair,” said the GOP General Secretary.