Staff Correspondent

Law adviser AF Hassan Ariff said on Thursday that the state of emergency must be lifted before the general elections scheduled to be held by the end of 2008.

‘Total withdrawal of the state of emergency is a must before the general elections. Comprehensive discussions are going on so that the emergency is withdrawn…. there is no alternative to it’, he said at the weekly briefing at the secretariat.

Obstacles to electioneering in the Emergency Powers Rules would be removed to facilitate the city corporation polls as the Election Commission was planning to announce the schedules in March, said the adviser. The law adviser’s statement on the state of emergency marks a shift from his earlier stance on the issue.

At the last weekly briefing on February 14, he had said the state of emergency was directly no bar to holding the elections. ‘But it imposes some restrictions on the election process. Anything that bars electioneering should be removed.’

The Emergency Powers Rules must be relaxed to facilitate holding of elections, the adviser, also a former attorney general, had mentioned that day. Pressures were mounting from political parties and international communities on the interim government of Fakhruddin Ahmed for lifting the state of emergency.

Asked whether the present situation demands continuation of the state of emergency, he said, ‘I alone cannot give an answer to the question….It is a matter of a collective decision as to when the state of emergency should be lifted.’ ‘All fundamental fights are not suspended.

A few political and civil rights as stipulated in the constitution have been suspended by the EPRs,’ said Ariff, also a rights activist. He said the ministry was yet to receive the draft electoral laws from the Election Commission.

‘The EC is preparing the electoral rules. Our responsibility is to give a legal framework to the rules.’ The law adviser, however, said, the government had taken a move to amend the Contempt of Courts Act, 1926. ‘We are also consulting stakeholders for finalising the consumer rights ordinance which will be promulgated soon.’

The Election Commission has already informed the government of its plan to hold elections to four out of six city corporations — Rajshahi, Khulna, Barisal and Sylhet— and some municipalities in April.

It also urged the interim administration to create an environment for holding the elections either by withdrawing the state of emergency or relaxing the EPRs.

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