The general elections will not be allowed under any government other than a ‘non-party’ one, BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia has asserted.
She has also threatened to force the Awami League-led government to bow to the demand.
“The next elections will have to be held under not only an impartial one, it will also have to a non-partisan government. This is not only a demand of the BNP now but also of 90 percent people of the country,” she said.
There is fear of a violent political conflict between the two major political parties because of their conflicting stance over the nature of the government which will oversee the next parliamentary polls.
The government is saying there was no way to put unelected individuals in power through the caretaker government which was annulled in June 2011.
But the opposition has been on the streets protesting the idea of a partisan government holding the polls which has become a possibility after the 15th Amendment to the Constitution. They demand a non-party system for the elections.
Khaleda said, “The goons of Awami League have weapons. Whether we have public support or not, those goons will take control of the voting centres during the elections. No voters will be allowed to go to the polling centres.”
She warned the government against plans to hold the polls without BNP. “If the government does not meet our demand and unleashes repression, you [the people] will see how that is resisted.”
Her remarks came on Thursday night at a views-exchange meeting with Buddhist leaders at her Gulshan office. She also greeted the Buddhists on Buddha Purnima, the biggest religious ceremony of Buddhists all over the world.
The leader of the opposition claimed the public are not safe with ‘this killer and corrupt government’.
She further said the human rights situation in the country had gotten worse. “Foreigners have termed the state of human rights worrying. Amnesty International’s report has also portrayed the country’s deteriorating condition of human rights.”
“Now what the government will say?” wondered the BNP chief.
“TV channels and newspapers are being controlled. They [the government] have stopped broadcast of two television channels. The government just can’t stand opposing opinions.”
Khaleda on Thursday again said many were killed during the raid to clear out Hifazat-e Islam activists from the capital’s Motijheel in the early hours of May 6 and the bodies were concealed. But the government has already said that no one was killed during that raid, otherwise their relatives would have come forward.
The opposition chief also claimed that the ruling party was involved in the attacks on the Buddhist Viharas, temples and households at Teknaf, Ukhia and Ramu in Chittagong last year.
She said people of no religion were safe during the tenure of Awami League government.
“I don’t believe in minority-majority. We are all human beings. I don’t consider anyone smaller or bigger. I believe people of all religions will safely practise their religion altogether,” the former prime minister added.
Source: Bd news24
