The BNP, a regular critic of the current Election Commission (EC), has sat for discussions over the upcoming 11th National Elections.
The discussion, part of a series of meetings where the EC listens to electoral reform suggestions from the political parties and other stakeholders, began around 11:00am on Sunday at the Agargaon headquarters of the EC, reports bdnews24.com.
The BNP delegation of Standing Committee Members Khandker Mosharraf Hossain, Maudud Ahmed, Jamiruddin Sircar, Tariqul Islam, Mahbubur Rahman, Rafiqul Islam Mia, Mirza Abbas, Gayshwar Chandra Roy, Moyeen Khan, Nazrul Islam Khan, and Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury came to meet with the KM Nurul Huda-led commission.
BNP Advisory Council members ASM Abdul Halim, Ismail Kabiullah, Abdur Rashid Sarkar, and Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi were also part of the BNP delegation.
This is the first time since 2008 that BNP leaders of such seniority have met with the EC. The then Secretary General Khondker Delwar Hossain had led a delegation to the EC before the 9th Parliamentary Elections.
The EC began discussions regarding the upcoming 11th Parliamentary Elections on Jul 31. They first sat with representatives from civil society.
Next it met with media representatives on Aug 16 and 17 and began meeting with the 40 registered parties on Aug 24.
The Election Commission has so far met with delegations from 33 parties. It is scheduled to meet with the delegation from the ruling Awami League on Oct 18.