‘Accept caretaker demand or face agitation’

Senior BNP leader Moudud Ahmed has renewed his appeal to the government to come to an understanding on the nature of the general election-time government.

Or else, the Standing Committee member said they would launch vigorous agitations after the Eid-ul-Fitr.

“The government has no alternative other than agreeing to a non-partisan system to oversee the polls. There is still scope for reaching an agreement to end this crisis,” he said at a discussion on Friday at the National Press Club in the capital.

If the government forcibly held the elections without coming to an understanding with the opposition, the outcome would not be good, Moudud warned.

File Photo

File Photo

“If such things happen, tougher programmes will be announced after the Eid. The ruling party will be forced to meet the demand of a poll-time non-party government,” he added.

“The Awami League wants to hold the polls under a partisan government to avoid the possible punishment it might get from electorates for corruptions, he claimed.

The former Law Minister also reminded the ruling party of the recent defeat of its candidates in the five city corporation elections. “I would like to tell the government there is still time to evaluate the people’s mandate in these polls. Otherwise it will be a mistake for the Awami League and it will pay for this.”

The BNP has been unrelenting in its tirade against the youth-led uprising at Shahbagh over the demand for maximum punishment for war criminals and a ban on the politics of Jamaat-e-Islami.

Moudud said “the government lost its popularity because of its support to Ganajagaran Mancha”. “As long as they are supporting this Ganajagaran Mancha, their popularity will decrease,” the leader further claimed without citing any study.

He was speaking at the discussion organised by pro-BNP ‘Youth Forum’ on ‘Government conspiracy against Grameen Bank and Professor Muhammad Yunus and the Future of Our Economy’.

Moudud criticised the government’s position on the Grameen Bank and Yunus. “Muhammad Yunus’ winning Nobel prize was the proudest moment for us after the War of Independence. But the government is harassing the Nobel laureate and plotting to break apart the Grameen Bank he founded,” he alleged.

The BNP would protest any such attempts against the bank, he said, adding his party, if elected, would restore complete powers of the bank’s women shareholders.

Source: Bd news24