In response to BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir’s recent comment demanding an apology for alleged vote-rigging, Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader on Wednesday said the BNP leader should take responsibility and resign for both the failure of their movement and debacle in the general election.
"As a secretary general, he couldn't carry out a movement for more than 10 minutes over the last 10 years, while his party couldn't get even 10 seats in the election. BNP has failed both in the movement and the election. He (Fakhrul) should resign, taking responsibility for the failures if he has a minimum sense of shame," Quader said, according to UNB.
On Tuesday, Fakhrul asked Quader to apologize publicly for "vote rigging" in the 11th parliamentary election.
Quader responded to his BNP counterpart on Wednesday while talking to reporters at Awami League's Bangabandhu Avenue central office after an extended meeting of Dhaka South city unit Jubo League.
Fakhrul had said: "Ask Mr Quader to go to a stadium and apologize to the nation for resorting to blatant lies and deceiving people."
Quader, who has been reappointed as road transport and bridges minister, said those who turned down people's outstanding victory should apologize to the nation.
He also said Fakhrul is now acting like a “reckless driver”, and urged all to remain alert about him to avoid any accidents.
Calling the December 30 general election transparent and excellent, Quader questioned whether any polling agent of BNP and Jatiya Oikya Front candidates raised any objection about the transparency of the election on election day.
He also trashed Transparency International Bangladesh’s (TIB) report on various election irregularities, including allegations of ballot stamping the night before the polls, calling the allegations fictitious.
"TIB has now come up with the fairytale after so many days after the election. We know why they've cooked up so many imaginary and unbelievable stories. The country's people will give a reply to it," the minister added.