Oikya Front seeks media cooperation for fair elections in meeting with editors

The alliance’s chief Dr Kamal Hossain led a delegation of its leaders to the two-hour meeting at a Dhaka hotel on Friday ahead of the parliamentary election slated for Dec 30.

“They (editors) have expressed their views also. They have drawn our attention to what they want from us to ensure free and fair polls,” Dr Kamal told reporters.

“We consider this exchange of view as very important. We hope the media will pay close attention to the government-related issues we’ve pointed out,” he said.

“We’ve sought all sorts of cooperation to ensure free, fair and impartially organised elections,” Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, the secretary general of the alliance’s key component the BNP, said on being asked what kind of cooperation they are asking from the media.

The Oikya Front sat with the editors to learn from their experiences, Dr Kamal said.

The editors told the politicians about what should be avoided so that the people can exercise their right to vote without fear in a “truly free and fair election”, he said.

“We, the opposition parties that are going to the election, have responsibilities for preserving an atmosphere favourable to polls just like the government has duties to ensure fair polls,” the Gono Forum chief remarked.

Daily Amader Notun Somoy Editor Nayeemul Islam Khan had left the meeting before it ended citing an urgent business.

“I asked them how they will observe the golden jubilee of independence and Bangabandhu’s 100th birth anniversary after winning or losing the elections. They have noted them down and will answer them later,” he said.

bdnews24.com Editor-in-Chief Toufique Imrose Khalidi said he did not get an answer to his question to the Oikya Front leaders as to who the prime minister will be if the alliance wins the polls.“It’s a very important question in the election of a parliamentary democracy,” he said, referring to elections in other democracies such as the UK and India.

“But the Front hasn’t cleared the issue yet,” he said.

Prothom Alo Editor Matiur Rahman, Sayed Kamaluddin of the weekly Holiday, journalist Reazuddin Ahmed, daily Manabzamin Chief Editor Matiur Rahman Chowdhury, New Age Editor Nurul Kabir, Dhaka Tribune Editor Zafar Sobhan, and Dinkal Editor Rezwan Siddiqui attended the meeting.Senior journalists, including some of the foreign media, were also present.

The Oikya Front leaders included senior BNP leaders Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain, Moudud Ahmed and Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury, Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal-JSD President ASM Abdur Rab, Nagorik Oikya Convenor Mahmudur Rahman Manna, and Jatiya Oikya Prokriya’s Sultan Mohammad Mansur Ahmed.

It was the first time the Oikya Front sat with the editors after the alliance’s inception on Oct 13 ahead of the general elections. Abdul Kader Siddique’s Krishak Sramik Janata League joined the new alliance recently.

The Oikya Front met the Dhaka-based foreign diplomats on Oct 18.