The High Court ruling that bars BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia from taking part in the 11th parliamentary polls next month is the result of a government conspiracy, BNP leader Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir has said.
Speaking to reporters in Thakurgaon on Wednesday, BNP’s secretary general said: “This decision clearly reflects the government’s conspiracy to keep Khaleda Zia out of election. The people of the country will not accept it.”
Calling the ruling just before the election “ill-motivated,” Fakhrul said his party was taking part in the election to protect democracy and to continue pressing home their demand for Khaleda’s release.
Earlier the BNP had said they would not take part in the election if Khaleda was not released from jail.
Fakhrul was in Thakurgaon on Wednesday to submit his nomination papers for the Thakurgaon 1 constituency to the district returning officer.
He also told the reporters that he was contesting the polls from the Bogra 6 constituency, for which the BNP chief has also been given nomination.
Fakhrul said the list of candidates from the Jatiya Oikya Jote, the newly formed political coalition of which BNP is a key element, would be finalized soon.
Attorney General Mahbubey Alam, on Tuesday, said Khaleda Zia cannot contest the polls based on a High Court order that bars anyone who has been sentenced to more than two years in jail for corruption, and who has an appeal pending, from standing in the upcoming general election.
Khaleda Zia was sentenced to five years in jail in Zia Orphanage Trust graft case on February 8, which was raised to 10 years on October 30 following a petition by the Anti-Corruption Commission.
She was also sentenced to another seven years in jail in the Zia Charitable Trust corruption case on October 29, which means she has to serve a total of 17 years in jail.