BNP to boycott upcoming UP elections
BNP secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir
Opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party decided not to take part in the upcoming union council elections across the country scheduled for April this year.
Party secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir at a press conference on Sunday at Gulshan office of the party chairperson made the announcement
The decision was taken at a virtual meeting of the party standing committee held on Saturday, Fakhrul said.
The government and the Election Commission had destroyed the election system of the country and in the local government elections the ruling party also won by vote rigging and using muscle power and the administrations, Fakhrul said.
Referring to the death of writer Mushtaq Ahmed in jail custody, Fakhrul said that the government was trying to stop the voices of the opposition using the Digital Security Act.
This act has turned the government into an autocrat and it is being used to suppress the democratic and constitutional rights of the people, Fakhrul said.
Moreover, Fakhrul said that the police foiled a peaceful rally of the Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal, in front of the National Press Club on Sunday morning.
The police attacked the rally and charged batons and threw tear shells, used shotguns and wounded more than one hundred leaders and activists, Fakhrul said.
Some of them were admitted to hospitals for treatment, Fakhrul added.
Fakhrul was scheduled to speak in the protest rally but he found that it was foiled by police attack when he reached the spot.
The virtual meeting Chaired by acting chairman of the party Tarique Rahman from London, secretary general Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, standing committee members Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain, Jamir Uddin Sirker, Mirza Abbus, Gayeshwar Chandra Roy, Abdul Mayeen Khan, Nazrul Islam Khan, Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury, Selima Rahman and Iqbal Hasan Mahmud Tuku.
About the BNP decision, Election Commission secretary M Humayun Kabir Khandaker said that the commission always wanted to see the parties in elections.
He said that the commission would give the highest support if any party wanted it.
BNP joined all other local body elections including city corporations and ongoing municipality polls.
New Age
