Zonayed Saki urges specific timeframe for national election

Ganasamhati Andolon Chief Coordinator Zonayed Saki today (27 April) stressed the need for fixing a specific timeframe for the next national election.

"If the election is to be held after December, the reasons must be explained," he said after a dialogue with the National Consensus Commission.

Referring to Chief Adviser Prof Muhammad Yunus' announcement that the election will be held between December this year and June next year, Saki said, "Other advisers also said they will not go beyond this timeline. We think the timeframe should be more specific and finalised through discussion."

The discussion was held with National Consensus Commission Vice-Chairman Prof Ali Riaz in the chair.

A 10-member delegation of Ganasamhati Andolon, led by Zonayed Saki, participated in the discussion at the LD Hall of the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban.

The Ganasamhati Andolon chief coordinator hoped that the government would sit with the stakeholders to fix the time for the election.

"If the polls are deferred beyond December, the rationale must be clarified," he said.

About constitutional reform, he said the constitution cannot be changed without people's mandate or without a Parliament.

But, administrative matters (reforms) beyond the Constitution can be changed through executive orders by the interim government and validated by the next government, he added.

Speaking about Article 70 of the constitution that doesn't allow an MP to vote in Parliament against his or her party, Saki said, "We have proposed reforming it in a way so that MPs can vote freely on all matters except the votes of confidence and budget bills. This will help balance power and enhance parliamentarian's role as a true representative of the people."

Speaking on the balance of power between the President and the Prime Minister, Ganasamhati Andolon Executive Coordinator Abul Hasan Rubel said, "Now the President cannot act apparently without the permission from the Prime Minister.

"We want to change it by giving the President the authority for specific appointments and certain tasks," he said.

He also demanded a structural balance among the three branches of the state—executive, legislature, and judiciary—within the Constitution.

Ganasamhati Andolon agreed with 138 out of 166 reform proposals of the National Consensus Commission.

The party partially agreed with 13 others and disagreed with the 11 proposals and did not make any comment over four reform proposals.

Consensus Commission members Safar Raj Hossain, Dr Badiul Alam Majumdar and Dr Iftekharuzzaman were present at the discussion moderated by Chief Adviser's Special Assistant Monir Haider.

On 20 March, the Consensus Commission opened a series of talks with political parties to forge a national consensus on state reform initiatives.

The commission has already held talks with 17 political parties, including BNP, Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami and National Citizen Party (NCP).

Formed on 15 February, under the leadership of Chief Adviser Prof Muhammad Yunus, the Commission was tasked with shaping a unified national stance on critical reforms.