AL warns of one-sided decisions

The Awami League (AL) has said it will not accept any unilateral move by the government and the Election Commission (EC) to impose new electoral laws, a party leader said Monday, reports bdnews24.com. brWe are not bound to oblige if the government and the Election Commission take any unilateral decision and we will make our stance clear [Tuesday], acting general secretary Syed Ashraful Islam told reporters after holding separate meetings with the allies in the 14-party coalition. brGone are the days of [making] unilateral decisions. If anything untoward occurs following the [one-sided] decision of the Election Commission, elections will be disrupted, the acting general secretary warned. brThe AL held meetings Sunday and Monday with its partners ahead of the third-round dialogue with the Election Commission. brThe party sat with the Workers Party of Bangladesh, Ganatantri Party and Samyabadi Dal Sunday and Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (Inu), Gano Azadi League and Communist Party of Bangladesh Monday. brThe demands AL would make at today's (Tuesday's) dialogue include national elections ahead of all other elections, withdrawal of the state of emergency, upazila polls after parliamentary polls, bar on registration of parties that pursue religion-based politics and ban on the war criminals to run in the elections. brTerming the provision of 'negative' votes 'amusing', Ashraful said We will ask the Election Commission to take out the provision. brHe protested the provision that asked political parties to disband front organisations. All the countries of the world including India, the United Kingdom and the United States have associated organisations, he said. brOn the provision that there should not be any foreign branches of the parties, he said The provision of forming foreign branches depend on the law of the relevant countries. brAsked to comment on their archrival BNP's skipping the electoral dialogue, he said The BNP has said that it will join the dialogue and elections after the party chairperson is released. brAs the leader has not been released yet, the party is not joining the dialogue. brThe government and the Election Commission need to make sure that all parties go to the elections. The elections will not be acceptable if all parties do not take part. brAn eight-member AL delegation will join today's electoral dialogue. The party earlier attended the first and second round of dialogues with the EC.br