EC to talk soon with registered political parties only

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The Election Commission (EC) will sit for dialogue "immediately" with only those political parties who automatically come under the registration conditions determined in the provisionally recast Representation of People Order (RPO), reports UNB.
"We are waiting. When the ban on indoor politics will be lifted and the political parties will be ready for the discussion, we'll alphabetically invite the political parties who will fulfil the first two conditions," Election Commissioner M Sakhawat Hussain told reporters at his office Tuesday.
On Monday, the EC revealed its stand that they wouldn't go for dialogue with the parties even after the lifting of the ban unless they came clear with their recast entities through completing their reforms. It stirred criticisms even from among those who are spearheading party reform in compliance with the reform agenda of the present caretaker government.
"We have most of their (who fulfil the first two criteria) names in our hand," said the Election Commissioner, Sakhawat, indicating that all of the major parties fit in the dialogue slot.
"We don't have any problem in inviting the political parties who fulfil the first two criteria… We are almost ready… We just need one or two days after lifting of the ban," he told the reporters.
The first two conditions for registering as a political party are: 'an existing political party must have won at least one seat in any of National Assembly or Parliament elections held since independence of Bangladesh till the filing for registration or obtained no less than two per cent of the total votes cast in any such elections'.
And the political parties who cannot fulfil the first two criteria would be considered under the third criteria, Sakhawat said.
The third criteria reads: 'if such parties (unable to fulfil the first two requirements) have constituted their central committees with fully functioning offices; have constituted district and upazila-level committees at least in half (32) of the administrative districts in Bangladesh with fully functioning offices; and have enrolled no less than one thousand voters in the case of each upazila as designated by the political parties in terms of sub-clause above as members.'
It also says '… joining an unregistered political party by a Member of Parliament who has won his seat as an independent candidate shall not be construed as that political party winning that seat for the purposes of its registration.'
To identify such political parties--as there are so many--the EC is preparing a form for various sorts of relevant information about the parties, Sakhawat said.
The forms would be distributed among the parties who would apply for. "Scrutinising the forms submitted to us by the parties we will determine which party fulfils the third criteria of being registered and then invite them for dialogue."
Asked what would be the criteria if any political party split like LDP, or under the present political scenario where major parties like Awami League and BNP are now divided into two groups centreing round reform issues, the Election Commis-sioner again referred to the proposed draft RPO.