Observing that Iajuddin's activities will go in favour of the BNP-Jamaat alliance in the upcoming polls, the leaders of both the parties said other than his resignation from the post of the chief adviser (CA), there is no other way for holding the election in a credible manner.

The three-member team, led by chief observer Alexander Lambsdorff, which also met senior leaders of BNP, emphasised creating a congenial atmosphere for the polls with participation of all parties. Other members of the team were deputy chief observer Graham Elson and political expert Jenni Christensen.

They met the AL leaders, including AL President Sheikh Hasina, in the evening while the meeting with the LDP leaders were held at the party's Baridhara office in the morning.

Emerging from the meeting with Hasina at the latter's Sudha Sadan residence, Lambsdorff said that they are in the process of learning the views of different political parties ahead of the upcoming election. "We will evaluate the parties' positions and make our observations through a press conference later," he said.

Briefing the reporters, AL chief's Political Secretary Saber Hossain Chowdhury said, "We raised our concerns on a number of issues that include partisan role of the CA and the Election Commission (EC), and erroneous voter list."

The AL leaders also described their demands -- resignation of the CA, reconstitution of the EC with neutral and credible people in charge, cancellation of the existing polls schedule and correcting the voter list, he added.

Earlier, the EU team had an hour-long meeting with the LDP leaders in the morning. LDP President Badruddoza Chowdhury led his party also attended by its leaders Abdul Mannan, Anwarul Kabir Talukder, Ziaur Rahman Khan and Firoz M Hasan.

Saying that the president is the main hindrance to the free and fair voting, the LDP leaders reiterated their demand for his immediate resignation from the post of CA. Badruddoza also apprised the team of the demands of all parties, except BNP and Jamaat, in the current political situation.

Talking to the reporters after the meeting, LDP leader Firoz M Hasan said the EC reconstitution, flawed voter list, politicisation of civil and police administrations, arrest of the corrupt people before the polls, security of political leaders, neutrality of private television channels and use of black money and firearms during the polls were discussed in the meeting.

MEETING WITH BNP
The delegation of EU election observers also met the BNP leaders at Hawa Bhaban in the evening.

During the meeting, the BNP leaders informed the EU election observers that it is not possible to defer the election date even if the two major political alliances agreed on it, according to the UNB.

No one has the authority to defer the election beyond the time stipulated in the constitution, as any citizen can challenge it in court, the BNP leaders told the delegation led by Alexander Lambsdorff.

BNP Secretary General Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan, BNP chairperson's advisers M Morshed Khan and Reaz Rahman were present at the meeting that lasted for 90 minutes.

Briefing reporters after the meeting, Reaz Rahman said they told the delegation that BNP must go to the polls within the stipulated time, as there is no alternative to it even if other political parties did not participate.

Replying to query, he said the EU observers hoped that a free, fair, peaceful and credible election would be held in Bangladesh.