Prothom Alo
Awami League general secretary and road transport and bridges minister Obaidul Quader on Saturday said BNP’s weapon of movement got rusted and their so-called surge in movement has turned into ebb-tide.
He said this at a press conference at his official residence in the capital.
About BNP secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir’s comment that the government fears surge of public support in favour of BNP, Quader said Mirza Fakhrul every day presents newer information and sometimes his comments even supersede imagination.
“Mirza Fakhrul Saheb can feel self-satisfaction by making such comments. They can make such comments to save themselves from the wrath of their own workers but the people know it very well that their comments are contrary to the reality,” he said.
He said BNP feels “heart-quake” in apprehension of their massive loss in the next general elections.
“Awami League is never afraid of anything. Bangabandhu’s politics was to march forward overcoming all obstacles and challenges on the way of cherished goals. Following his footprints, Awami League is doing that politics under the leadership of Bangabandhu’s daughter Sheikh Hasina,” he said.
Quader said the people and streets of this soil know the bravery of AL’s struggle and movements and the party’s glorified history.
On the other hand, the people also know about BNP’s reckless politics, killing of democracy, looting and opportunist politics, he added.
The AL general secretary said BNP’s so-called surge of public support was not seen in any elections in the last 13 years.
They are now unwilling to take part in polls and that is why they kept their politics limited to mass media and social media avoiding the political field as well as streets, he said.
The minister said there will be no benefit in threatening the government of prime minister Sheikh Hasina and Awami League. “Your (BNP’s) evil attempts to fish in troubled water do not remain unknown to us,” he said.
The AL general secretary said BNP is now saying that they would join polls if a neutral caretaker government is formed but the party knows it very well that the issue of caretaker government is a settled one.
“Who did scrap the caretaker government system? The caretaker government system was scrapped in light of the verdict of High Court. The caretaker government was an interim system. It cannot run for a long period,” he mentioned.
Quader said when a country’s democracy marches forward, people’s trust and confidence in government and election system also rise.
The election commission is a constitutional body and the government has no interference in any activities of this institution, he added.
He said those who introduced “multi-party mockery” in the name of multi-party democracy and those who don’t practice democracy inside their own party are now talking about democracy.
Pointing to Mirza Fakhrul, the AL general secretary questioned why Fakhrul didn’t join parliament even after being elected in polls and what type of democracy that is.
The minister said parliamentary polls will be held in due time as per the constitution like in other democratic countries. So, there is no need to make evil attempts to make chaos unnecessarily centering any settled issue, he said.
