CA lifts ban on indoor politics
Chief adviser Fakhruddin Ahmed in a televised address to the nation Sunday announced an end to a long-running ban on indoor politics from Monday. He said no more cases would be filed and nobody would be harassed in connection with the incidents at Dhaka University and other public universities across the country late August. The chief adviser in the 25-minute speech said the national taskforce on corruption would not publish any new list of corruption suspects after the current month. Fakhruddin said there may be some mistakes his government made as there were mistakes by any government. The makeshift government chief said his administration has been taking some tough measures only to build a good social infrastructure. "Our efforts will go on to build solid foundations for democracy and good governance and create a context free from corruption and muscle power to make sure that our path to a progressive and democratic society is not hampered," he said. Fakhruddin repeated his pledge to transfer power to elected public representatives after arranging the elections by the 2008 deadline. "I would like to assure you that we are determined to do the work we are meant to do." His announcement caps an eight-month long restriction on parlour politics. The Election Commission has long been asking the government to lift the bar to enable it to hold dialogues with political parties on electoral reforms. Chief Election Commissioner ATM Shamsul Huda earlier in the day had said the Election Commission will ask the chief adviser on September 11 to open the door to indoor politics. Fakhruddin's address was simultaneously broadcast live by the state-run Bangladesh Television and Bangladesh Betar, and the private TV stations.
BDNews24