The way a UNO was sent to jail suggests the Awami League government may also imprison the deputy commissioners and the election commissioners during the elections, BNP secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir has expressed apprehension.
“So, there will no free and fair elections under the Awami League [government]… The next election must be held under a poll-time supportive government,” he said on Tuesday.
The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) secretary general made the statement while inaugurating the party’s membership drive at Ashwani Kumar Hall in Barisal city.
Chaired by Barisal city BNP president Mujibur Rahman Sarwar, the programme was also addressed by BNP central committee vice president Begum Selima Rahman and divisional organising secretary Bilkis Jahan Shirin.
Mirza Fakhrul expressed determination that the next election will be held with the participation of all political parties.
“No election shall be held without creating a level-playing field,” he said adding that the shackles created the ruling AL must be broken.
The BNP leader pointed that the people of Bangladesh have experienced what happened in elections held without neutral government. He cited the examples of rigging and manipulation in the local government elections.
“So, in order to stop ballot rigging with the help of the administration, the government of Sheikh Hasina will be compelled to announce elections under a neutral government,” he said.
Mirza Fakhrul asked the BNP leaders and workers to get ready for movement against the AL government and guard the polling stations to stop vote rigging by the AL men.
The BNP secretary general accused the AL government of resorting to falsehood about development, and said the country’s actual economic growth should not be more than 4.2 per cent.