Main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party senior leader Abdul Moyeen Khan talks to reporters at his Gulshan residence in Dhaka, on Sunday. – UNB photo.
The main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party on Sunday congratulated voters for not going to polling stations, responding to the opposition’s call for a boycott of the 12th Jatiya Sangsad polls.
‘The country’s people rejected the Awami League government through this voter-less election. They boycotted the unilateral general election and made the opposition’s call successful,’ BNP standing committee member Abdul Moyeen Khan said in an impromptu press conference at his Gulshan residence.
‘On behalf of not only the BNP but also all the 62 political parties that boycotted this farcical election, I salute the people of Bangladesh for the sole reason that they have never compromised on the question of democracy. They also didn’t do it this time as well,’ he said.
He said that thousands of thousands of photos circulating on social media depicted a clear picture of people’s rejection of voting.
‘You can see pictures of dogs standing, lying down, and basking in the sun in front of the polling stations in the absence of voters,’ he said, adding that most polling stations were almost empty of voters.
‘So, our call for the election boycott has succeeded,’ he said.
He said that the last part of the election drama arranged by the government was staged on Sunday.
‘The interesting thing is what we have been saying for the past year is that the people of Bangladesh have turned down this government. It is proved today before everyone in the country as people have boycotted the voting,’ he said.
The BNP leader said that they had astonishingly observed that the government had taken democracy to such a level in the past 10 years that hundreds of voting centres appeared empty during the election.
‘This is the reality of the farce in the name of Bangladesh’s 12th parliament election,’ he said.
Replying to a question, he said they got overwhelming support from people as they had been peacefully and democratically carrying out their movement against the government peacefully and democratically.
‘We will continue our movement together with the people in a peaceful process,’ he said, adding that the Awami League not only deceived the country’s people but also cheated their party men with such a farcical election.
‘The consequences of this election won’t be good,’ he said.
‘We do not believe in any fake and bogus election system in the name of democracy. Many people brand this government as an autocratic regime. People also call this regime by different names. I say this government is pretending to be a democracy. Governments that pretend to be democratic are far more dangerous than authoritarian ones,’ he said.
Moyeen feared that the government and the Election Commission would show an inflated figure of voter turnout, as they did in the past two national elections.
‘But that is not our concern, as the people of the country and the entire world witnessed how the voters in Bangladesh turned down the election.’
He said that even many supporters of the ruling party did not go to the polling stations as they knew the victory of their candidates was certain.
New Age