EC starts dialogues with political parties from July 17 next

The Election Commission (EC) will hold dialogues with the registered political parties from July 17 to 31 ahead of the 12th general elections.  A total of 39 registered political parties including Awami League and BNP are being invited for the dialogues, Ashok Kumar Debnath, EC additional secretary, informed reporters at the secretariat Wednesdday.

Responding to a query, he said no agenda is yet to set in the dialogue as it’s an open (dialogue).

Each election commission holds dialogues with the political parties before the national parliamentary elections and this commission is also continuing that trend, he added.

The Additional Secretary said that the letter regarding holding dialogues would be sent to the political parties from tomorrow and a total of 10 representatives from each party can participate in the dialogue.

EC has allotted two hours for holding dialogue for Awami League, BNP and Jatiya Party while other parties will get one hour each. 

EC official also said that EC will sit for dialogue with the Nationalist Democratic Movement (NDM) on July 17 (Sunday) from 10:30 am to 11:30 am while Bangladesh Nationalist Front from 12 pm to 1 pm, Bangladesh Congress from 2:30 pm to 3:30 pm and Bangladesh Muslim League from 4 pm to 5 pm on the same day.

Bangladesh Islamic Front, Bangladesh Sangskritik Mukti Jote, Khilafat Majlis and the Revolutionary Workers Party of Bangladesh will get the chance to sit in their respective dialogues from 10:30 am 11:30 am, 12 pm to 1 pm, 2:30 pm to 3:30 pm and 4 pm to 5 pm on July 18 respectively. 

Bangladesh Kalyan Party, Islamic Oikya Jote, Bangladesh Khelafat Majlis and Bangladesher Samyabadi Dal will sit for dialogues from 10:30 am 11:30 am, 12 pm to 1 pm, 2:30 pm to 3:30 pm and 4 pm to 5 pm on July 19 respectively.

Ganatantri Party, Bangladesh National Awami Party and Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) will sit for dialogues from 10:30 am 11:30 am, 12 pm to 1 pm and 3 pm to 5 pm on July 20 respectively.

On July 21, EC will hold dialogues with Bangladesh Tarikat Federation from 10:30 am to 11:30 am while Bangladesh Jatiya Party from 12 noon to 1 pm, Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal from 2:30 pm to 3:30 pm and Gana Front from 4 pm to 5 pm.

On July 24, EC will hold dialogues with Bangladesh Khilafat Andolan from 10:30 am to 11:30 am while Jatiya Party (JP) from 12 noon to 1 pm, Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal from 2:30 pm to 3:30 pm and Islamic Front Bangladesh from 4 pm to 5 pm.

On July 25, dialogue will be held from 10:30 am to 11:30 am with Bangladesh Muslim League while from 12 noon to 1 pm with Bangladesh Workers Party, from 2:30 pm to 3:30 pm with Bangladesh Samajtantrik Dal and from 4 pm to 5 pm with the Liberal Democratic Party.

On July 26, EC will hold dialogues with Jomiyote Ulamaye Islam Bangladesh from 10:30 am to 11:30 am while Bikalpa Dhara Bangladesh from 12 noon to 1 pm, Islamic Movement of Bangladesh from 2:30 pm to 3:30 pm and National People's Party- NPP from 4 pm to 5 pm.

Bangladesh Jatiya Party (BJP), Zaker Party and Krishak Sramik Janata League will sit for dialogues from 10:30 am 11:30 am, 12 pm to 1 pm and 2:30 pm to 3:30 pm on July 27 respectively.

Gana Forum, Bangladesh National Awami Party and Communist Party of Bangladesh will sit for dialogues from 10:30 am 11:30 am, 12 pm to 1 pm and 2:30 pm to 3:30 pm on July 28 respectively.

On July 31, EC will hold dialogues with Jatiya Party from 11am to 1pm while Bangladesh Awami League will sit from 3pm to 5pm on the same day.