BNP demands nat’l elections by August

The Bangladesh Nationalist Party on Tuesday demanded general elections by the middle of the year and urged the interim government, the Election Commission and political parties to reach a consensus on the issue.

BNP secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir made the demand at the BNP chairperson’s office at Gulshan in the capital Dhaka at a press conference held to announce the decisions made in the party’s standing committee meeting Monday night.

‘We have been demanding time and again that there is no alternative to the elected government, as it is the cornerstone of democracy. We believe that elections are feasible by the middle of the year, specifically within July or August,’ the BNP secretary general said.

He said that the BNP standing committee meeting, chaired by party’s acting chairman Tarique Rahman, extensively discussed the chief adviser’s remark that the elections would be held either by the end of this year or mid-2026 and the committee thought that there was no justification for delaying it so much.

The standing committee meeting also expressed deep concerns over the rising commodity prices, inflation and increased value-added tax and other taxes.

Fakhrul said that the political and economic crises would escalate if the national elections were delayed.

The Election Commission has already been formed and governance has remained relatively stable, so there is no reason for delaying the national elections further, he said.

‘We want to appeal to the government, the Election Commission and the political parties to reach a consensus on holding the elections by the middle of this year in the greater interests of the country,’ the BNP secretary general said.

Fakhrul said that the Election Commission had confirmed that they were ready to hold the elections, but they had made it clear that holding two elections — national and local — concurrently would not be possible.

Demanding the parliamentary elections first, Fakhrul said that there was no scope for holding local government polls before the national elections.

‘Our firm decision regarding the elections is that local government elections cannot be held before the national elections, as the entire focus of the country and the nation is currently on the national elections,’ he said.

‘While the country functions, it is the parliament that enacts laws, and the essence of democracy lies in the parliament. If it is operational, democracy becomes functional,’ said the BNP secretary general.

BNP standing committee member Abdul Moyeen Khan said that the government had not removed elected union parishad representatives.

‘How can elections be held there without removing the representatives?’ he questioned.

Fakhrul said that reform was an ongoing process and in 2016, the BNP introduced ‘Vision 2030’.

He said that in 2023, the party presented 31 points, adding that they had implemented most of the reforms.

Regarding the July uprising proclamation demanded by the Students Against Discrimination, Fakhrul said that they had received a draft from the student leaders, but due to the sensitivity of the issue, it was not possible to provide an opinion quickly.

The BNP standing committee meeting also decided to hold a press conference with detailed information on economic issues, and a committee, led by BNP standing committee member Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury, was formed to prepare a report on the issues immediately, he said.

Fakhrul said that the standing committee meeting also discussed the Cyber Security Ordinance in details and decided to hold another press conference with more information about the law.

A committee headed by Abdul Moyeen Khan was formed to prepare a report on the matter immediately, he added.

BNP senior joint secretary Ruhul Kabir Rizvi at a programme in Rajshahi on Tuesday urged the interim government chief adviser Muhammad Yunus to declare a specific date for the next general elections.

‘Announce a date for a free and fair election,’ he urged.

He made the call while addressing a winter cloth distribution programme organised by Rajshahi metropolitan Juba Dal, the youth front of the BNP, in front of the Shahid Zia Children’s Park in the Chhota Bongram area of Rajshahi city.

New Age