The BNP-led 20-Party Alliance has decided to take part in the remaining four phases of union council elections.
The alliance took the decision during a meeting at BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia’s Gulshan office on Monday night.
BNP leaders had earlier threatened to boycott the remaining phases, citing ‘large-scale’ violence and irregularities in the first two legs.
After the meeting, BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said, “We are in the election after reviewing all the phases and we will remain in the polls until the end.”
After a huge defeat amidst violence and irregularities in the first two phases, BNP leaders had threatened that the party would boycott the last three phases if the situation did not change in the third phase.
After meeting senior leaders of her party on Sunday, Khaleda met the leaders of the party’s allies on Monday.
Jamaat-e-Islami, which lost its registration following a court order, did not take part in the meeting.
“There is no possibility of a boycott now,” Fakhrul said after the meeting.
A BNP leader who was at the meeting said most of the leaders opined for continuing the ballot fight despite ‘vote rigging’.
Asked why the party and its allies took the decision despite the allegations, Fakhrul said, “We want to see how bad and unfit this Election Commission can be…how deceitful they can be to the state and the people.”
After the boycott of the 10th parliamentary election, BNP has been taking part in local government polls despite claiming that no election can be fair under the current EC.
The party alleges the EC acts on government orders, while the Awami League alleges the BNP is out to make the EC controversial after its failure to get the people’s mandate.
Source: Bd news24
