Shakhawat Liton

The ruling Awami League appears to have ignored the electoral law and its own charter in the nomination process for parliamentary candidates in the next national election as the party didn't allow its grassroots leaders to make preliminary selection of contenders.

A candidate can spend Tk 10 per voter for electioneering in the upcoming parliamentary polls. His/her total spending, however, in no way can exceed Tk 25 lakh, the ceiling of maximum expenditure, even if the number of voters in a constituency is more than 2.5 lakh, according to a notification issued by the Election Commission.

Claiming there is a congenial atmosphere for polls across the country, Chief Election Commissioner KM Nurul Huda yesterday announced that the 11th parliamentary election will be held on December 23.

The weeklong talks between the ruling alliance and opposition parties ended yesterday, but all the major contentious issues that have created uncertainty ahead of the election remain unsettled.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who wrapped up weeklong dialogues with political parties on the next parliamentary polls yesterday, had been part of the eventful history of both successful and failed talks.

The Election Commission seems to be in an unusual hurry to announce the schedule for the next parliamentary polls.

The state of politics in the run up to the upcoming parliamentary polls looks quite different from what prevailed in 2006 and 2013. The first week of the 90-day timeframe from October 31 for holding the polls saw some positive signs like talks between the ruling and opposition parties and deferral of the election schedule by the Election Commission.

Awami League-led 14-party alliance will hold talks with Jatiya Oikyafront for the second time at the prime minister’s official residence Gono Bhaban in Dhaka on November 7.

A number of Supreme Court verdicts in cases related to Jatiya Party Chairman HM Ershad seem to have the answer to a million-dollar question: Is the BNP chairperson eligible to contest the upcoming parliamentary polls?

As Hefajat-e Islam activists turned increasingly violent and kept Motijheel occupied for nearly 12 hours after their rally there on May 5, 2013, the law enforcers swung into action after midnight and drove them away. Following that show of strength, the Hefajat did not have to take to the streets again as the Islamist group got much of whatever it wanted through negotiations that took place away from the public eye.

Authoritarian governments should consider holding fair elections.” This intriguing comment by Mike Touchton, a professor of political science at Boise State University of Idaho in USA, is certainly worth pondering about. But why should such governments consider doing such a thing? “It just might invite more prosperity,” he explains in an article on the subject.

The High Court enhances the punishment of BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia from five years of imprisonment to 10 years in Zia Orphanage Trust Corruption case.

BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia was convicted in Zia Charitable Trust corruption case and sentenced to seven years' rigorous imprisonment by a special court in her absence yesterday.

There is a paradoxical situation that troubles us as we move closer to the next parliamentary election.

The hope that the party may win the election if it is held in a free and fair manner has spurred a large number of BNP leaders to emerge as MP aspirants.

The civil service bill placed in parliament on Sunday with a provision to shield government employees from arrest by police in cases filed against them on charges of criminal offences committed in connection with their duties, raises question if political memories are really wafer thin.

The Awami League high command is worried as almost all the 300 constituencies have four to five party leaders each vigorously campaigning for nominations in the parliamentary polls, according to AL insiders.

In their manifestos for the next national polls, the Awami League wants to focus on the government's "success stories" while the BNP on its “goal to restore democracy", insiders say.

A comment made by Sir Winston Churchill more than seven decades ago beautifully sums up the importance of voters in democracy: “At the bottom of all tributes paid to democracy is the little man, walking into a little booth, with a little pencil, making a little cross on a little bit of paper—no amount of rhetoric or voluminous discussion can possibly diminish the overwhelming importance of that point.”

BNP data on police cases filed against its leaders and activists in about five weeks reveal a surprising number of unidentified accused, making the party extremely worried about its grassroots ahead of the upcoming parliamentary polls.