Qamrul: BNP unable to boycott next election

“The BNP-Jamaat alliance is driving the youths towards danger. The next general elections will take place under the leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. The BNP will have to participate in the upcoming election to survive,” the minister told a programme at Tetuljhora High School and College in Savar. According to the Representation of the Peoples Order, the registration of a party is revoked if it does not take part in the parliamentary elections for consecutive two terms. The BNP-Jamaat alliance and some other parties had boycotted the 2014 elections. Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader on Friday also said that the BNP would take part in the next elections to avert the risk of losing its party registration. Qamrul said that the current government was education friendly. On the other hand, the BNP-Jamaat alliance was trying to hatch conspiracy against the incumbent government. Meanwhile, Awami League Publicity and Publication Secretary Hasan Mahmud said that the BNP would lose strength and split into many parts the way Muslim League or Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal did if the party did not participate in the next polls. “We do not want to see BNP being confined to a certain range like those parties. Rather, we hope to see it taking part in the polls as a large party led by Khaleda Zia,” the former minister said at a party meeting in Dhaka. He said that the BNP’s decision of boycotting the last polls was suicidal, and hoped they would not repeat the same mistake.