Bangladesh Nationalist Party standing committee member Nazrul Islam Khan distributes leaflets in Paltan area in the capital on Thursday, asking people not to cast their votes in the January 7 general election. — New Age photo
The main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party on Thursday said that the ruling Awami League was holding the January 7 general election just with an evil attempt to extend the term of ‘an illegal, corrupt and looter regime’.
‘We appeal to the people of the country to boycott the polls since you have no scope to choose the candidates of your choice,’ BNP standing committee member Nazrul Islam Khan said while distributing leaflets in front of the National Press Club to motivate people not to cast their vote.
He urged the people to come forward in unison to foil the government efforts to stage a ‘game’ in the name of election.
‘You [people] have to say no to them [Awami League]. You stand against them and foil this game in the name of election,’ he said.
The party’s three-day programmed of mass contact and distribution of leaflets against the election ended on Thursday.
The BNP and its front organisations and other parties distributed leaflets across the country.
The BNP announced a fresh two-day leaflet distribution and mass contact programme to create awareness among the people to boycott the January 7 general election.
Declaring the fresh programme, BNP senior joint secretary general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi at a virtual press conference said that other like-minded political parties would also observe the same programme.
According to the new programme, the BNP will conduct leaflet distribution and mass contact programmes nationwide on Friday and Saturday.
The BNP along with nearly three dozen opposition political parties have been carrying out a simultaneous movement since December 10, 2022 year to force the current government to quit and hold the 12th parliamentary elections under a non-party neutral administration.
The BNP’s movement lost its momentum following clashes with law enforcers centring on the party’s grand rally on October 28 as many senior leaders, including its secretary general, Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, were arrested while many others went into hiding in the face of a crackdown by law enforcement.
The BNP and its allies, however, called countrywide blockades for 22 days in 11 phases and hartals for five days in four spells since October 29.
Finally, the opposition party made the call for a non-cooperation movement on December 20.
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