The Election Commission (EC) assured the Jatiya Oikya Front leaders on Wednesday that it would consider their demands, including further deferment of the general election, according to the leaders of the opposition alliance.
The assurance came at a meeting between the EC and the Jatiya Oikya Front held at the EC office at Sher-e-Bangla Nagar in the city.
At the meeting, the Oikya Front urged the EC to defer the polls by at least three weeks.
"We have discussed our demands with the EC in a very cordial atmosphere. We hope the Election Commission will accept our demands," senior leader of the Oikya Front Dr Kamal Hossain told the media after the meeting.
The EC has assured the alliance of considering the demands, he said.
Dr Kamal also said the chief election commissioner has regretted the untoward incident that took place in front of the BNP central office at Naya Paltan earlier in the day.
Speaking to the media, BNP secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, who is the spokesperson of the Oikya Front, said his party's joining the 11th parliamentary elections totally depends on the attitude of the government and the Election Commission (EC).
"We placed several demands at the meeting. The EC assured us of considering the demands," he said.
"It is now up to the EC to decide how it will meet the demands," he said. The meeting was originally scheduled to start at 12:00noon. But it finally began at around 3:30 pm and lasted for around two hours.
At the meeting, the Oikya Front leaders also discussed the issue of filing of false cases against leaders and activists of BNP and other opposition parties.
They also urged the EC not to use electronic voting machines (EVMs) in this election.
They demanded that the EC deploy army at all the polling centres and take steps to put an end to the filing of false cases against opposition leaders and activists.
BNP standing committee members Dr Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain and Barrister Moudued Ahmed and chairman of Bangladesh Krishak Sramik Janata League Bangabir Abdul Qader Siddique, among others, were present at the meeting.
On November 8, the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) had announced that the general election would be held on December 23. Four days later, the EC re-fixed the election date to December 30.
Meanwhile, the Oikya Front leaders decided to sit with the editors of the national dailies tomorrow (Friday).
They will discuss the issues relating to the upcoming national elections. The Oikya Front has also a plan to sit with the heads of the electronics media. But the date is yet to be fixed.
talhabinhabib@yahoo.com