Gana Forum President Dr Kamal Hossain urged the government to hold a “national dialogue” for an inclusive election in keeping with its earlier assertion that the January 5 election was held to fulfil constitutional obligations.
He was speaking at a meeting of the party’s Central Standing Committee in the capital’s Arambag area.
Dr Kamal called into question the effectiveness of the January 5 election, saying the country’s democratic culture was destroyed through it.
He stressed that the election was not a participatory one as candidates in 153 of the constituencies were election uncontested and called for strengthening the election commission.
In a separate discussion yesterday, Bikalpadhara Bangladesh Chairman AQM Badruddoza Chowdhury said people felt insecure because of the government’s “criminal activities.”
“Anyone protesting its activists runs the risk of disappearing. We want to regain our power to vote and the main target of our movement would be to ensure that.”
He was speaking at the 78th birth anniversary programme of BNP founder Ziaur Rahman at the National Press Club.
Regarding the poll, he said it was held in an undemocratic way, which only went to show that the Election Commission was powerless.