The Bangladesh Nationalist Party acting secretary general, Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, on Friday said that the government must be ousted; otherwise the general elections would not be held.
At a discussion at a city hotel, he urged the BNP leaders and activists to further strengthen the party to push the ongoing movement to the final stage under the leadership of the party chairperson Khaleda Zia to protect democracy.
Jatiyatabadi Mahila Dal, the BNP-backed women organisation, organised the discussion marking its 35th founding anniversary and the 6th anniversary of the release of Khaleda from prison.
Fakhrul said that Awami League would not be allowed to hold unilateral election without BNP and people would not allow the return of AL misrule for the second time.
He told the party activists that if election was not held, democracy would be at stake as well as the goal of BNP to carryout development would not be materialised.
The BNP leader said that the next elections would be held only after reinstatement of the provision of election-time non-party government in the constitution.
He said that the country was now passing through a bad time and called for united movement of all patriotic and democratic political parties to oust the incumbent government.
About AL allegation that the BNP did not want empowerment and development of women, Fakhrul asked them to go back to the history saying that the BNP had played a big role in empowering the women during the period of Ziaur Rahman and Khaleda Zia.
Presided over by Mahila Dal president Noor-e-Ara-Safa, the discussion was also addressed by Dhaka city BNP member secretary Abdus Salam, BNP Women Affairs secretary Khaleda Rabbani and Mahila Dal general secretary Shirin Sultana.
-With New Age input
