Prothom Alo
The Bangladesh National Party (BNP) secretary general has said the election must be held under a neutral government and a neutral election commission.
“There will be no more election ‘game’. We will not accept the election if a neutral government is not in power during the election period,” said Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir while addressing a discussion at the Engineers Institution Auditorium in the capital on Saturday.
The BNP secretary general alleged the Awami League is trying to return to power through an election in which the people will not get scope to cast votes.
That is why they have introduced Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) and it is their another big tool, Fakhrul said adding they introduced such EVM in which votes can be stolen and anyone can win without getting votes.
The BNP leader said chief election commissioner Nurul Huda has entirely destroyed the election system.
However, the chief election commissioner now said the commission should be formed after discussing with the political parties, the BNP leader added.
About the CEC’s recent Russia trip, Mirza Fakhrul said, “He visited Russia and observed the election system there. The situation is same in Russia. The person stays in the government in the same way. Either the person becomes the president or the prime minister. This is another interesting thing. In the system, the same person becomes the president and the prime minister repeatedly. There is no difference with the system of Bangladesh. He observed that. He has taken training how votes are stolen during the day.”
Calling upon the leaders and activists to take preparation for movement, the BNP leader said, “We have to stand up against the conspiracy of snatching the rights of the people.”
The discussion was organised to commemorate 1 October 2001 when the national election was held.
The BNP secretary general said, “The last acceptable election was under a caretaker government on 1 October 2001. The voters could cast their votes. So we are commemorating the day.”
Mirza Fakhrul said the Awami League now fears a fair election as they know they will not get 30 seats if a fair election is held. As a result, they have brought the administration, the judiciary, the state machinery and the media under their control, he added.
Professor Dilara Choudhury, professor Abdul Latif, BNP standing committee member Mirza Abbas, BNP Dhaka Mohanagar North unit convener Aman Ullah Aman and South unit convener Abdus Salam, among others, spoke at the event.
