If a polls-time supportive government and a congenial atmosphere is in place, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) is ready to join the ballot anytime, the party’s secretary general said on Tuesday.
“The BNP has 900 candidates for 300 parliamentary seats,” Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir pointed out, emphasising his party’s readiness for general elections.
The BNP secretary general came up with these observations after placing wreaths at the grave of BNP founder late president Ziaur Rahman in the city to mark the 38th founding anniversary of the party’s workers wing, Jatiyatabadi Sramik Dal.
When asked what the BNP was doing while the ruling Awami League was selecting candidates in preparation for the election, Mirza Fakhrul said, “There is no need to compare the BNP’s political course with that of the Awami League.”
“The BNP is an election-oriented political party. It believes in elections. It is ready for the elections anytime, had there been election-time supportive govenment and a fair election atmosphere,” he said.
The BNP leader alleged that the democratic space in the country was shrinking day by day due to the Awami League.
“The more the Awami League understands it is isolated from the people, the more it is reducing the democratic space. It is trying to perpetuate a one-party system,” he said.
In this context, the BNP secretary general threw a challenge to the ruling party, saying that the position of the AL in the public mind would be understood, should a free and fair election is held in the country.
BNP standing committee member and former labour leader Nazrul Islam Khan said the real wages of the workers is decreasing day by day due to the rising prices of essentials. “They are not safe in their workplaces either and are losing their lives,” he added.
Sramik Dal president Anwar Hossain and general secretary Nurul Islam Khan paid tribute to Ziaur Rahman.
Source: Prothom Alo