Airing doubts about the timely holding of national elections, Bikalpadhara Bangladesh (BDB) President AQM Badruddoza Chowdhury on Sunday said an unconstitutional government might emerge if the election is not held under the caretaker government system.
“The polls can only be held if the caretaker government system is restored. If the election is not held, there might be an imposed or unconstitutional government that might create a big disaster for the country,” he said.
The former president expressed his apprehensions at a joint press conference after a meeting with Nobel laureate Prof Muhammad Yunus at the city’s Yunus Centre, reports UNB.
On the recent city corporation polls, Chowdhury said: “The government has been defeated in the polls, while democracy triumphed. Through the verdicts, the people showed the yellow card to the government.”
He said the recent polls’ trend has proved that the ruling Awami League suffers defeat when fair elections are held.
Regarding the Grameen Bank issue, Chowdhury said good sense would prevail over the government’s plan to break up the Nobel-winning micro-finance institution into 19 entities. “A conspiracy is on to loot the Tk80bn assets of the Grameen Bank.”
He said the government had no right to break up the Grameen Bank into 19 pieces. Addressing the current regime, he said: “Your time is over, so give up the plan of breaking up the Grameen Bank.”
He mentioned that Prof Yunus was the first person to call upon the international community not to brand Bangladesh as a poor country.
The Bikalpadhara chief also gave assurances that his party would stay beside Grameen Bank and Prof Yunus to face any conspiracies.
Prof Yunus said Grameen Bank was built day by day into the institution it has become, and urged the people of the country to save it from nationalisation.BDB Secretary General Maj (retd) Abdul Mannan, economist Dr Osman Haider Chowdhury and party leaders were also present at the press conference.