Dr Syed Abdullah Mohammad Taher, a central nayeb-e-ameer of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, has said the next national election should not proceed until key reforms are introduced and given a legal framework.
Speaking at a meeting with people of different faiths in Comilla’s Chauddagram upazila on Friday, Dr Taher voiced support for the chief adviser’s call to prioritize constitutional and electoral reforms before setting a date for the polls.
“The election should be based not only on proportional representation, but also on reforms. Reforms must be given a legal basis,” he told the gathering at a local auditorium.
Dr Taher criticized the earlier decision to announce an election date without such measures in place. He argued that there is still enough time to implement changes and that doing so would strengthen the credibility of the vote.
“If we again hold an election without any kind of reform or change, we will have to return to the Awami League’s bad times,” he said. “We did not wage so much struggle only to return to the Awami League’s rotten era.”
What he said is really stirring the pot on an already tense issue: the election. The core of the argument is two-fold: when should it happen, and what can be done to make sure the process is actually fair and includes more people? It’s a fight that has pitted political parties against activist groups, and they’re all stuck on how far any real reform can go on such a tight timeline.
