Several political parties on Saturday suggested that the interim government led by Professor Muhammad Yunus should hold the next general election within a reasonable time after necessary reforms of state organs.
The parties made the suggestion at separate meetings with Yunus at state guest house Jamuna on the day.
A party also suggested holding elections to local government bodies before the national election.
鈥楻eform is a must and the national election should be held after necessary reforms... but it should be done within a reasonable time as many challenges would come for this government if they stay in power for a long time,鈥� Liberal Democratic Party president Oli Ahmad told reporters emerging from a meeting with Yunus.
He also said that the interim government should announce a roadmap detailing what they wanted to reform and within which period.
Bangladesh Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal president Sharif Nurul Ambia said that his party proposed necessary reforms of the constitution.
Pointing out that theft and corruption should be stopped, he said that the convicts of corruption must be barred from elections.
Its general secretary Nazmul Haque Pradhan said, 鈥榃e have failed to reorganise the country after the War of Independence. We have failed to build the country even after the popular uprising of the 1990s. We have told the chief adviser that we do not want to fail this time.鈥�
After the discussion with Yunus, Islami Andolan Bangladesh Amir Syed Muhammad Rezaul Karim said that the previous fascist government and those who served them, including administration and media, should be brought to justice.
His party demanded the introduction of proportional representation system in election.
Proportional representation is an electoral system that elects multiple representatives in each district in proportion to the number of people who vote for them. If one third of voters back a political party, the party鈥檚 candidates win roughly one-third of the seats. Proportional representation is the most common electoral system among the world鈥檚 democracies.
Other Islamic parties including Bangladesh Khelafat Majlish, Khelafat Majlish, Jamiat Ulama e Islami and Nizam-e-Islam also demanded the proportional representation system.
They also demanded trail of ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina for mass killing during the July student-people movement. Jatiya Party secretary general Mujibul Haque Chunnu
said that his party wanted to give enough time to the interim government for necessary reforms.
He said that his party thought that there was a scope of putting an end to controversies over elections and other democratic issues for this government.
He said that the Jatiya Party hoped that the government would give an outline about their plan.
Gano Forum general secretary Mizanur Rahman said that Yunus sought specific proposal form the party鈥檚 emeritus president Dr Kamal Hossain.
He said that 20 proposals, including balancing the powers of the president and the prime minister and restoration of the
caretaker government system were raised by the party at the meeting.
Eleven political parties and alliances took part in the discussion with the cief adviser on the day.
Later at a press conference, chief adviser鈥檚 press secretary Shafiqul Alam said that the chief adviser discussed with the political parties whether the constitution should be rewritten or amended.
He said that the chief adviser was asking all the parties what they wanted.
Mahfuz Alam, special assistant to the chief adviser, said that the political parties wanted to know the outline of the government, elections, and the process of power transfer.
鈥楾he chief advisor will quickly present to the nation what will be the outline of Bangladesh in the future. There was a discussion on whether to reform the constitution,鈥� he said.
Mahfuz also said that the government鈥檚 tenure would be determined based on the reform proposal.
鈥楾here will be a comprehensive outline. The chief adviser will outline the reforms based on the reform proposals of the political parties,鈥� he added.