AL demands Hasina's release, lifting of emergency

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Awami League (AL) ended its two-hour meeting with the Election Commission (EC) at 400pm Tuesday, the last day of the third-round electoral dialogue, reports bdnews24.com. brThe seven-member AL delegation was led by the party's acting president Zillur Rahman, and included Syed Ashraful Islam, Abdur Razzak, Tofail Ahmed, Suranjit Sengupta, Motia Chowdhury and Amir Hossain Amu. brActing AL president Zillur Rahman, emerging from the dialogue, told reporters The dialogue was successful. We have demanded the release of Sheikh Hasina and lifting the state of emergency before elections. brUpazila polls cannot be held before parliamentary elections, nor can any city corporation polls, Zillur said. brAshraful Islam said We have agreed on different issues. But we can not say right now what they are. brWe have clarified our stance to the Commission. Let's see how the Commission responds. We will deliver our statement after the Commission delivers its own, he said. brAsked whether the dialogue would be a meaningful one without the BNP-led four-party alliance, Ashraf said We hope the alliance will join the dialogue. brAL presidium member Tofail Ahmed said We want an election with the participation of all parties. We have told the Commission the same thing. brOn the party's view about war criminals, he said War criminals will not be allowed to join the elections. The Commission holds the same view.br