BNP wants further election delay

Published : 13 Nov 2018, 12:57

Sahos Desk

The BNP, the archrival of ruling Awami League, has reiterated its call for pushing back the 11th parliamentary election by a month.

“The Election Commission has fixed December 30 as the date for voting so that foreign observers remain absent on the day,” BNP leader Ruhul Kabir Rizvi said at a news briefing on Tuesday, rejecting the new election schedule declared by the EC.

“December 25 is the biggest religious festival of the Christian community.  Foreign observers and ambassadors and high commissioners of different countries and officials of foreign missions will be on leave due to the New Year. The EC set December 30 as the election day at the suggestion of the government so that the election can be rigged in the absence of poll observers.”

"We reiterate our call for the deferment of the election schedule by a month. A level-playing field must be created for everyone, not just for yourself [Awami League]. "

On Monday, the EC deferred the parliamentary polls by a week to Dec 30 amid calls from the Jatiya Oikya Front and other opposition parties.

The deadline for nomination submission is Nov 28, and candidates have until Dec 9 to pull out, according to the gazette.

Meanwhile, CEC KM Nurul Huda said there is no scope to take the polls beyond Dec 30. He said there are many reasons for that: one is the Biswa Ijtema, one of the largest Islamic gatherings that sees a huge deployment of law-enforcement agencies.

Source: bdnews24

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