Bangladesh Nationalist Party senior leader Nazrul Islam Khan on Monday said that the BNP saw no reason to wait beyond December for the 13th national election as the election commission was ready to conduct it after June.
鈥榃e do not see any obstacle to holding the elections by December since the election commission has said that they will be ready by June,鈥� he said while talking to reporters after a meeting with the Labour Party at the BNP chairperson鈥檚 office in Gulshan.
Nazrul, a BNP standing committee member, also said that the consensus commission had informed them that it expected to reach a consensus on reforms by mid-May through discussions with political parties, paving the way for the drafting of a national charter.
鈥楾hen I see no reason to wait longer than December for the elections after the necessary reforms are completed,鈥� he said.
The BNP leader said that if any party disagreed with BNP鈥檚 position, they should explain why additional time would be necessary.
As part of BNP鈥檚 ongoing dialogue with parties and alliances involved in the movement against the Awami League government, Nazrul and fellow BNP standing committee member Selima Rahman held a one-hour meeting with a seven-member delegation of the Labour Party, led by its chairman Mostafizur Rahman Iran.
The BNP formally began this new round of political talks with a meeting on Saturday with the 12-party alliance, aimed at sharing the outcome of BNP鈥檚 recent meeting with chief adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus and deciding on its next steps.
On April 16, a seven-member BNP delegation led by secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir met the chief adviser at the state guest house Jamuna, urging him to provide a specific roadmap to ensure the national election is held by December.
Following the meeting, Fakhrul expressed disappointment as Professor Yunus reiterated that the election would take place between December and June instead of offering a clear roadmap.
