Search committee soon to reconstitute EC

The interim government is set to form a search committee soon under the existing rules to pick election commissioners, in the run-up to the next polls in a changed milieu.
In the post-uprising context, the immediate-past ruling Awami League and allied political parties who participated and were elected in the last three 'illegal' parliamentary elections may be barred from contesting in the next general election, said Mahfuz Alam, special assistant to the Chief Adviser, in a briefing Saturday after the government's dialogues with some political parties.
"The interim government will restrict them through legal and administrative measures and you will observe very soon how the process will be implemented," he told reporters after the dialogues between Chief Adviser Dr Muhammad Yunus and some political parties.

After being appointed, he said, the new election commission will start necessary preparations, including updating the voter list. And the reform process will be conducted simultaneously.
Responding to a question he said many political parties demanded ensuring punishments of the Awami League and its allies who were involved in mass killing during the July Revolution led by the students.
Asked whether the interim government has plans to ban Awami League and its allies like 14 parties and the Jatiya Party, the spokesperson said decisions in this regard will be finalised after consultations with the political parties.
He said holding elections, conducting reforms and trial of the perpetrators of the mass killings during the July revolution were the main talking points in the dialogue participated by Gano Forum and Bangladesh Jatiya Party.
At the same time, political parties raised the issue of the price hike of essentials, and unrest in readymade garment sector.
The CA told them that the unrest in the RMG sector ended and necessary measures were taken to arrest the price spikes.
"Already the prices are starting to go down," said Mr Alam quoting the Chief Adviser.
Earlier in the dialogue, the Liberal Democratic Party led by Col (Rtd) Oli Ahmed urged the interim government to ban Awami League, saying that as the Jamaat-e-Islami was banned in 1972 for mass killing, AL ought to be banned for the same reason as they "fought a war against 18 crore people in the country."
Oli Ahmed also demanded that the interim government bring the officials who were staunch supporters of deposed Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to book.
Gono Forum also called upon the Chief Adviser to hold the next national elections very soon after reconstituting the Election Commission and completing the ongoing reform works.
A nine-member delegation of the party, led by party chief Dr Kamal Hossain, held the dialogue with the head of interim government at the State Guesthouse Jamuna.
A delegation of the BJP, led by Andalib Partha, also took part in the dialogue on Saturday.
Responding to a question, the Press Secretary to the CA, Shafiqul Alam, said the government is investigating how top-ranking AL leaders, including Obaidul Quader, fled the country after the August-5th uprising.
He also noted that as there was "no government in the country from August 5 to 8, and police administration was inactive, the AL leaders might have taken advantage of the situation".
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