Awami League’s assurance of a fair election is only a trap to deceive BNP, says the party’s Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi.
“Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader assured that the next election would be fair,” he said on Monday.
He was addressing a media call at the BNP headquarters in Naya Paltan.
“We would like to say joining the polls without a non-party neutral government means falling into their trap of deception,” he said, adding that what the ruling party leaders and the prime minister are saying about the fair election is nothing but a deception.
He also said people cannot understand what Obaidul Quader exactly meant by “fair election”, as there is an “Awami version” of the fair election that the country’s people have been witnessing for 14 years.
The BNP leader also said the definition of Awami League’s fair voting is to hold the election without votes like in 2014 or stuffing ballots at night like in 2018 by using all the forces to subdue the people and by establishing a reign of terror.
He said people will be able to cast their votes as per their wish only if the election is held under a non-partisan government. “That is why we are on a movement for holding the election under a non-party neutral government.”
Rizvi also opposed the government’s plan to hold the election using the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), noting many countries already backed off from this system due to various faults.
He said ballot papers must be used instead of EVM for holding a fair, credible and transparent election.
The senior politician said people got a message in advance that the next polls will be marred with massive rigging and vote robbery from Obaidul Quader’s comment that the election will be held using EVM and the Election Commission will remain neutral.
He also slammed the ruling party general secretary for his remark that BNP must join the election for protecting its existence. “Obaidul Quader’s remarks give an impression that he is not only the general secretary of Awami League but also an advisor of BNP,” he added.
Rizvi said the anarchy over soybean oil across the country has manifested that the government has no program other than plundering public money.
"The government has created a scope for profiteers to make money by increasing the price of soybean oil," he said.