An Awami League leader has urged the ‘civil society’ not to provoke the BNP into starting fresh agitations simply because of its lead over the ruling party in the first two phases of the Upazila polls.
“I would like to request you not to make provocative remarks in TV talk shows that might force the BNP to take to the streets,” the Awami League’s Senior Joint General Secretary Mahbubul Alam Hanif said while addressing a discussion in Dhaka on Monday.
He said local government polls were no yardstick to assess popularity.
“Don’t create a split within the nation on the issue,” Hanif said.
BNP has led over the Awami League in the first two phases of the Upazila polls.
Awami League-backed chairman candidates won in 96 Upazilas, while the BNP-led 19-Party endorsed candidates in 116 Upazilas.
Hanif described as a “bad omen for the country” BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia’s address at a rally in Rajbarhi.
On Mar 1, the BNP chief had announced that her party would start a movement for national election under a non-party government after the Upazila polls.
“She (Khaleda) had threatened to resume agitation two days ago…some persons of the civil society had made various remarks on the Upazila Polls in TV talk shows and newspapers,” the Awami League leader said.
Hanif termed 2013 as a year of nightmares. “The BNP-Jamaat had indulged in acts of sabotage all through last year. They had dismantled rail tracks, set buses and trucks on fire, and burnt people alive.
“The Prime Minister had strongly managed the sabotage and restored peace in public life,” he said.
“Don’t the representatives of the civil society want peace in the country and normalcy in public life?” the Awami League leader asked.
Food Minister Qamrul Islam, who was also present at the discussion, said the BNP’s apparent victory in the Upazila polls would not eventually help it start a movement. The party was not in a ‘position’ to do so, he felt.
“The nation had thought that the BNP had realized its mistake (in not taking part in the Jan 5 national elections) as it joined the Upazila polls and returned to democracy by quitting violence.”
But, he said, Khaleda Zia’s speech on Saturday suggested that the party could revert to its old ways, Islam said.
The minister was categorical in saying that there was no possibility of a mid-term poll, directing his remark at the BNP.
The election would be held after five years as per the Constitution, he stressed, adding that “daydreams will be of no use”.
