\\\'Jan 5 polls brought back stability\\\'

Prime Minister's International Affairs Adviser Dr Gowher Rizvi has reminded foreign diplomats of a contradiction-the call to hold fresh elections soonest possible creates the "very instability" that the Jan 5 elections put an end to, bdnews24.com.
Rizvi said the government would organise a fresh election at an appropriate time.
"…to say it has to be held by 20th of June, 10th of March, 19th of Dec, would create the very instability that the elections have put an end to," he said on Sunday while speaking at a seminar on 'good governance' organised by the Bangladesh Enterprise Institute (BEI) with the support of Canadian High Commission in Dhaka.
High Commissioner Heather Cruden said at the seminar that the Jan 5 elections left large part of the nation feeling 'disfranchised' as 153 candidates were elected unopposed.
"The peace and stability we are experiencing now may not last", she said.
Canada is one of many western countries calling for fresh elections that are inclusive and credible.
Cruden cited a recent poll conducted by the US-based International Republican Institute to back her case. According to the poll, 61 per cent of those surveyed said the elections should be held within a year, 71 per cent think violence will get worse in the next year, and 59 per cent thought Bangladesh was on the wrong track.
Rizvi begged to differ.
"We are doing ourselves disservice" by constantly raising issues based on "selective evidence" from opinion polls.
He said elections are to bring about political stability in the society, to give a government a mandate and "ultimately whether an election is valid or invalid depends on the acceptability of the people, masses, the voters and the elected".
Everybody was aware about the limitation of the elections and there was certain constitutional compulsion to hold them, Rizvi said.