Renews call on BNP to join polls
The prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, on Sunday strongly defended the 15th amendment to the constitution saying that it had closed all the doors for unconstitutional seizure of the state power and introduced a permanent system of holding polls under elected governments.
‘We wanted to introduce a system which would bar anyone from usurping power and oppressing the people. We wanted to develop a system so that people could vote under an elected government and nobody could play with elections,’ she said while exchanging views with more than two thousand nomination seekers from the party for contesting the next elections.
The prime minister at the programme at Ganabhaban said that she had
taken the initiative to form the election-time cabinet with participation of all parties having representations in parliament so that there could be no confusion over the polls and people’s constitutional rights were protected.
The AL executive committee body and its parliamentary board jointly organised the exchange of views with the nomination seekers.
‘Only BNP did not join this cabinet. Therefore, I request them once again to join it,’ she said.
Hasina assured the BNP that the coming polls would be free, fair and impartial under the present Election Commission.
‘This Election Commission enjoys total independence. If you [BNP] have any doubt, you should join this election-time cabinet. We will give you whatever ministries you want. I request you to send lawmakers to join the cabinet,’ she said.
She said that all the general elections that the nation experienced in 38 years after 1975 were held either in an unconstitutional manner or on an ad-hoc basis. She said her government simply wanted that the next general elections be held in a constitutional and democratic manner so that none could usurp power illegally and in an unconstitutional way.
Hasina, also the AL president, said that the party nominations would be given this time on the basis of the opinions of grassroots leaders and survey reports on the aspirants.
‘It is not possible for me to nominate you all. I have to pick one for each of the 300 constituencies. Whoever gets nomination will have to work not for him or her rather for ‘boat’ with total dedication and ensure its victory,’ she told the nomination seekers.
Hasina said that the BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami were working in unison and they did not want the AL to complete its unfinished development tasks and the progress that the AL government had achieved to continue as well as completion of the war crimes trial.
‘So you [nomination seekers] would have to get united and work together for the sake of the people and uphold their constitutional and democratic rights. Awami League wants to return to power with the people’s mandate and by winning their confidence so that it could turn Bangladesh into a middle-income and poverty-free country by 2021,’ she said.
Hasina said that the AL had never rigged any polls or prepared any fake electoral roll. ‘It was the BNP which rigged vote in all elections held under their rule,’ she said adding that this time the polls would be held in a fair and transparent manner.
‘We believe in people’s power and free, fair and impartial elections. None could raise questions over the polls held during our current tenure. We conceded defeat in many polls accepting the people’s verdict,’ she said.
AL general secretary Syed Ashraful Islam urged the party nomination seekers to work together for the party candidates, whoever they might be, and expressed the hope that if all leaders and activists worked together, the AL would win the election with an absolute majority like it did in the 2008 polls.
Ganabhaban was abuzz with the activities of hundreds of nomination seekers who swarmed the official residence of the prime minister, coming from each of the 300 constituencies. A total of 2,608 aspirants collected and submitted forms for party nominations in November 10-17.
-With New Age input
