BNP acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on Friday urged the Election Commission to postpone the election schedule and arrange the polls based on a consensus among political parties.
“We once again request the Election Commission, suspend the schedule for a lopsided election and hold it based on a political compromise,” he said.
The BNP spokesperson came up with the call at a brief address prior to a gayebana janaza in front of the party’s Nayapaltan central office in the city.
As part of the BNP-led 18-party’s nationwide programme, the gayebana janaza was held at Nayapaltan after Jum’a prayers, seeking salvation of the departed souls of those alliance leaders and activists killed by law enforcers and ‘ruling party men’ during its 71-hour blockade that ended at 5am today.
Mirza Fakhrul made any public appearance for the first time since he announced the blockade programme on November 25.
BNP chairperson’s advisers Fazlur Rahman Patal and Prof AZM Zahid Hossain, joint secretary general Mahbubuddin Khokan, Dhaka city unit member secretary Abdus Salam and BNP assistant office secretary Abdul Latif Jony, among others, attended the gayebana janaza.
Speaking on the occasion, Fakhrul said the people of the entire country are on a movement demanding that the election be held under a non-party cabinet. “People across the country burst into anger in protest against the announcement of the schedule for a unilateral election by the Election Commission,” he said.
He alleged that the Election Commission announced the schedule ignoring the public demand, the opposition party’s demand and the call of the international community for inclusive polls.
Reiterating the opposition’s stance on holding the election under the non-party government, Fakhrul said a free, fair and credible election is not possible under a partisan administration.
On November 25, the BNP-led opposition alliance called a 48-hour rail-road-river route blockade from Tuesday 6am protesting the schedule announcement for the country’s 10th parliamentary elections. Later, the blockade programme was extended to 71 hours.
Source: UNBConnect