Bangladesh ruling party offers talks on poll reforms

DHAKA, Sep 29: Bangladesh's ruling party today offered to hold talks with the main opposition group on its long-running demand for electoral reforms ahead of next year's elections, an opposition party official said.

The offer came after weeks of street protests by a 14-party opposition alliance led by the Awami League over its demand for removal of the chief election commissioner and his deputies, accused of a pro-government bias.

Abdul Jalil, secretary-general of the Awami League, said he had received a telephone call from his counterpart in the ruling Bangladesh Nationalist Party proposing talks on the electoral reforms. More details were not immediately available.

''I will discuss with my party chief to set modalities of the proposed dialogue and explain details as soon as possible,'' Jalil told reporters today.

The opposition also wants a say in choosing the head of an interim caretaker authority that will supervise the elections to ensure the polls are free and fair.

A previous round of talks between the government and the opposition over the reforms stalled after the Awami League objected to the presence of a hardline Islamist group, Jamaat-e-Islami party.

The ruling party insisted on the participation of the Jamaat which is a key partner in the coalition government.

The Awami League accuses the Jamaat of opposing Bangladesh's 1971 independence from Pakistan and helping the Pakistani army in carrying out a genocide in the former East Pakistan.

REUTERS