Dhaka: Awami League on Wednesday extended its full support to the Election Commission’s decision to unveil the schedule for the next parliamentary elections on Thursday as per its earlier announcement, reports the UNB.

‘The Election Commission has the absolute authority over the announcement of the election schedule. It’s the EC which will decide when and how the polls schedule will be announced. Awami League has extended its full support to the EC over its decision to announce the election schedule as per its earlier announcement,’ said Co-chairman of AL Election Conducting Committee HT Imam.

He was talking to reporters after a meeting of a 16-member delegation of the ruling party with Chief Election Commissioner KM Nurul Huda that started at 4pm at the Nirbachon Bhaban.

HT Imam, also Prime Minister’s political affairs adviser who led the AL delegation at the meeting, said all the political parties except Jatiya Oikyafront during their talks with the EC supported the Commission’s decision to announce the polls schedule on Thursday.

He said they urged the EC not to appoint officials from private banks and organisations as well as NGOs as polls conducting officers and the EC agreed in this regard.

HT Imam said they also suggested that the Commission be more careful over allowing election observers. ‘We told the Commission that observers must comply with the guidelines and no foreign national can act as an observer arriving here on tourist visa,’ he said.

The AL delegation members proposed that the EC should not appoint election observers from any unregistered organisation, he said.

The PM’s adviser said the ruling party urged the Commission to keep a special system to facilitate women and disabled voters to exercise their franchise voting rights in the national election.

In reply to a question, he said they did not discuss the issue of army deployment, but Awami League supports the deployment of armed forces as striking force in aid of the civil administration as did in the past.

HT Imam claimed that the leaders of Jatiya Oikyafront hurled indecent words in the recent meeting with the Election Commission. ‘The nation will give a befitting reply to this through vote.’

In reply to another question, he said the government has never controlled the Election Commission. ‘Rather, it has been assisting the constitutional body.’