Mounting pressure on the government to hold the general election under the non-party caretaker government (CG) system, BNP spokesperson Mirza fakhrul Islam Alamgir said on Friday that the party will announce its next course of action after Eid-ul-Azha. “A grand rally will be held in Dhaka after Eid-ul-Azha. Opposition leader Khaleda Zia will announce an intensive action programme from the rally,” he added. Alamgir was talking to reporters after a joint meeting with the leaders of BNP’s Dhaka City unit at the party’s Naya Paltan central office. Alamgir, also the acting secretary general of BNP, said the anti-government movement on the CG issue had already started across the country. “We are holding discussions and urging our partymen to sustain the momentum of the ongoing movement across the country,” he added.
BNP leaders Mirza Abbas, Sadeque Hossain Khoka, Aman Ullah Aman, Syed Motzzem Hossain Alal and others were present at the joint meeting.
As part of the anti-government campaign, the BNP will hold at least 15 meetings with its grassroots-level workers and supporters across the capital by August 31.
Earlier, at a separate programme, Abdul Moeen Khan, a standing committee member of the party, termed the 15th Amendment to the Constitution as anti-democratic and urged the government to restore the CG provision to the Constitution.
He said people were feeling insecure due to the lack of trust between the two major political parties. “The ruling Awami League does not believe in democracy and hardly bothers about its opponents’ opinion. This has resulted in the present political crisis,” he added. He was addressing a meeting organised by Jatiyatabadi Samobay Dal at the National Press Club on Friday. “People are not for the Constitution, but the Constitution is made for the people. The Constitution should be amended again to restore the CG provision, paving the way for the next general election to be held in a peaceful manner,” he said. Addressing another function, the opposition chief whip, Zainul Abdin Farroque, said his party would take part in the next general election if only the CG system was restored to the charter. “I urge the government to restore the CG provision to the Constitution by bringing a Bill in the Parliament session scheduled for September 12. If it is done, the opposition will participate in the next general election,” he said.
Otherwise, no election will be held and the government has to bear the blame, he added.
-With The Independent input
