Dr Kamal Hossain said the new platform wants more civil society members in parliament to better represent the interests of the Bangladeshi people, although his Gono Forum party had yet to finalize the names who will be offered the nominations. “We want people from civil society to participate in the polls from the Oikya Front but we haven’t offered them a proposal yet,” he said. “We have just expressed that we would be delighted to welcome them here.”The Front has been forced to deny recent media reports that claim Dr Kamal’s Gono Forum will ask key alliance partner BNP to make way in 50 seats nationwide - leaving 25 for its party leaders and 25 for civil society members. According to the reports, the 25 possible civil society members to be invited to join the platform include eminent jurist Dr Shahdeen Malik. I doubt whether the political environment and practices prevalent in the parliament can accommodate civil society as members.”At least one leading civil society figure has already accepted the invitation, however.

Source: Dhaka Tribune November 23, 2018 18:22 UTC