University students who actively participated in the 2024 student-mass uprising unanimously said they would not allow the ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina or any member of Awami League to participate in the next elections.
They said this on Monday while exchanging their views with the Electoral Reform Commission at the East West University auditorium in Dhaka.
In collaboration with the university unit of Anti-Discrimination Student Movement, ERC hosted the event where student representatives from around 50 universities were present.
The students also demanded that the president of Bangladesh be elected directly by the general voters instead of members of the parliament, the elected prime minister must leave his or her party position and cannot hold the prime minister post for more than two terms and candidates in the local government elections cannot use party symbols.
East West University student Muqtadir Sayedi said unless they are punished for the gruesome attacks on the protesting students, no AL-affiliated person would be allowed to participate in the next elections, whether it is national or grassroots level.
Monowara Mili from the same university demanded that senior bureaucrats serving the AL regime must be sacked from the governance system for the sake of a fair election.聽聽聽
聽Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology student Abrar Fayaz recommended that Bangladesh adopts bicameralism and an independent EC formed through parliamentarians鈥� votes.
Shamsuzzaman from the same university said EC should have the capacity to settle polls-related disputes in the shortest possible time.聽聽
Brac University student Shabab Hossain Meher recommended voting through voters鈥� smart NID cards and presence of credible polls observers on the election day.
Dhaka International University student Muntasir Fuad recommended that the EC should hold national elections after the law enforcement agencies are reformed.聽
Anti-Discrimination Student Movement spokesperson Umama Fatema urged the students to keep vigilant on the activities of the interim government and the reform commissions.
ERC chairman Badiul Alam Majumder and student representative Sadiq Al Arman, jointly anchored the event.
It was also attended by East West University pro-vice chancellor Professor Mohammad Ashik Mosaddik, other ERC members Professor Tofail Ahmed, Jasmine Tully, Md Abdul Alim, Zahed Ur Rahman, Mir Nadia Nivin and Md Sadek Ferdous.
