Amar Bangladesh Party on Friday welcomed the election commission roadmap for the 13th national parliamentary election.
鈥榃e welcome the announced roadmap as part of the democratic transition,鈥� said AB Party general secretary Asaduzzaman Fuaad at a press briefing at party headquarters in Dhaka.
The AB Party, however, sounded sceptical as it said the roadmap does not reflect the aspiration of the people, a press release said.
鈥榃e have always had confidence in Professor Muhammad Yunus. However, the EC announced this roadmap without engaging in dialogue with political parties and stakeholders. With discussions, it could have been much better,鈥� Fuaad said.
He noted that while the roadmap included 24 key issues such as constituency demarcation, finalisation of the voter list, registration of political parties, and approval of domestic election observers, it lacked effective measures on voter awareness and election expenditure.
鈥榃e had expected an initiative to create a protocol for enhancing voter awareness. We also expected that part of the election campaign expenses would be borne by the state or the Election Commission. But nothing of that sort was included in the roadmap. There are no clear measures to curb the influence of black money,鈥� the AB Party general secretary added.
He alleged that the proposal to reduce the voting age to 17- reflecting the aspirations of youths who took part in the July Mass Uprising - was ignored.
He also pointed out that allowing the use of common posters and festoons in rallies could have saved the nation billions of taka sharing campaign expenses with the state would also have reduced the influence of black money.
鈥楨lection Commission is still clinging to the traditional electoral system. As the government has not yet been able to take full control over law enforcement and administration,鈥� Fuaad opined at the briefing.
AB Party vice-chairman Lieutenant Colonel (retired) Helal Uddin, joint general secretaries Anwar Sadat Tutul and Shahadatullah Tutul, national executive committee member Siddiqur Rahman, Dhaka North City unit convenor Selim Khan, youth party member secretary Hadiuzzaman Khokon, Dhaka South City unit member secretary Barkaz Nasir Ahmed, Shahjahan Bepari, Raiyan Rossi, Amanullah Rasel, Sultan Arif and Ishrat Jahan, along with leaders from different levels of the central and city committees were present on the occasion.
