Terming the ongoing dialogue on the reconstitution of the Election Commission (EC) meaningless, Ameer of Islami Andolon Bangladeh and Charmonai Pir Mufti Syed Muhammad Rezaul Karim on Saturday said they will not take part in talks with the President. “We took part in talks with President Abdul Hamid in 2012 and 2017 from a sense of civic responsibility but the fact is that the two national elections held under two commissions extremely frustrated us,” he said. “The most frustrating thing is that the President neither brought the EC under accountability nor took any punitive action against the commission for holding disgraceful elections. So, we consider the dialogue with the President as meaningless,” he added. Mufti Syed Muhammad came up with the information while talking to reporters at a press briefing at the party’s Nayapaltan office. Read: Outgoing chief justice meets President Hamid Even, no sign of interest has been seen among the thinkers, political researchers and country’s people about dialogue with the President, they predict that the dialogue will be fruitless, said Rezaul. He placed a seven-point proposal, including enactment of a law for the formation of the Election Commission, formation of an national interim government, evaluation of the EC and election through constitutional council after each election, steps for removal of any member of the commission if found dishonest, unskilled and partial and placing Public Administration, Law, Home and information Ministries under the EC during the elections. Earlier, on December 29, BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir announced that the BNP standing committee has decided not to take part in the talks with President Abdul Hamid. Amid the various speculations about BNP’s participation in the talks, the party made its stance clear on it even before receiving the invitation from Bangabhaban for joining the dialogue. Fakhrul came up with the decision after a meeting of the party standing committee, the highest policy-making body. Read: Rejected by some parties, president’s dialogue trudges on President Abdul Hamid began talks with registered political parties over the formation of the new Election Commission on December 20. The tenure of the current EC, led by KM Nurul Huda, will expire on February 14 next year. As per the constitution, a new Commission must be formed before the expiry of the present EC.  

Police have foiled a procession brought out by Islami Andolon in the capital demanding the government sever diplomatic ties with France.