The main Opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) has welcomed the latest move of Jatiya Party (JP) chairman HM Ershad to boycott the 10th
parliamentary polls under the current set-up of the all-party poll-time administration led by Premier Sheikh Hasina. Senior leaders of the party said Ershad’s latest
move ahead of the upcoming general polls is to be appreciated amid the troubled political situation, even though they said they found it unbelievable. Talking to The
Independent, BNP standing committee member Mahbubur Rahman said, “I welcome Ershad for his announcement to boycott the next general polls, but don’t believe him, as he
speaks in an irrelevant way.”
The BNP has been claiming that no impartial and credible polls would be possible under a poll-time all-party Cabinet led by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina from the very
beginning, he said.
“Ershad has been able to understand the reality today. His announcement will mount pressure on the government while the Opposition will be a little bit more
reorganised,” he observed.
BNP spokesperson Salauddin Ahmed said HM Ershad has been able to realise that the atmosphere for holding the next general polls in a free, fair and credible manner
does not exist in the country.
“His announcement to boycott the 10th Parliamentary polls proves the country is passing through a severe crisis. The congenial and impartial atmosphere has been
damaged by the government,” he asserted. In a separate press statement, Colonel (retd) Oli Ahmed, chairman of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), has described the
steps taken by former president HM Ershad to refrain from the next general elections as befitting the times.
“Ershad has taken an appropriate decision for the first time in his last 32 years of political life in Tuesday’s announcement to boycott the next general elections,”
he added.
“The nation has woken up today through the announcement, which will boost the country’s peace and progress, instead of the politics of vandalism and killing of
people,” he said.
-With The Independent input
