BNP said yesterday the president had betrayed the people of the country.
The party came up with such a remark a day after President Abdul Hamid told United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon that people had accepted the January 5 election and so dialogue would take place after the expiry of the tenure of the incumbent Awami League government.
“President’s remark on dialogue and election have frustrated people [because] people want a credible election immediately,” Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, acting secretary general of the party, told his party leaders at a training programme held at a hotel in the capital.
He also said: “...there is no room for frustration. Tough movement would be waged to oust the government.”
Fakhrul claimed that the president had lost the confidence of the people through the remark that people had accepted the election and so dialogue would be held after the tenure of this government expired.
He however hoped that the president would work for the country and its people rising above partisanship to restore the confidence.
Later, the party spokesperson at the National Press Club said Awami League leaders had told Ban that the January five election would be held for only keeping the continuity of the Constitution. “Now [listening to the president's remark], it seems that the president’s statement is a version of the Awami League leaders.”
Referring to the government, Fakhrul said: “You (government) are taking taste of power, sending money to Swiss Banks, buying houses in Canada and Malaysia. None wants to leave office easily and so get ready to be ousted from office through people’s upsurge.”
Regarding the writ petitions of the MPs elected uncontested, he said, “There should not be any nexus between the (court) verdict and politics. Political issues should be settled politically. If everything happens as per court order, then Sheikh Hasina could not be the prime minister because the court had termed her wrongheaded. It is not possible to legitimise the January 5 election.”