Apparently frustrated at the “uncompromising attitude” of the Awami League towards the restoration of a non-party caretaker government, the BNP on Wednesday said it had no other alternative but to initiate programmes aimed at ousting the government.
“We are cornered and there is no option left except a movement to overthrow the government from the office,” Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, acting secretary general of the party, said.
Addressing a discussion to mark the Jail Release Day of BNP Senior Vice-Chairman Tarique Rahman at the Institute of Diploma Engineers, Bangladesh, Fakhrul threatened that they would not fall into the government trap of polls under a partisan government.
Asking the party men to take all-out preparations to wage a vigorous campaign, he said: “We want to renew our vow that BNP will not take part in any election under the incumbent prime minister.”
The BNP leader told the party leaders and activists that chanting slogans in an enclosed room would not yield any results. “You have to take to the streets. If you can take control of the streets, victory will come that day.”
Fakhrul alleged that the government had amended the constitution to stay in power forever by establishing a one-party parliamentary system.
Whenever the government realised that it would not win the polls, it planned to hold the polls by keeping parliament functional, he said.
The prime minister is misleading people of the country by saying elections in Bangladesh would be held as they are in other democratic countries across the globe, Fakhrul added.
A video of Tarique Rahman’s speech, delivered in London last month, was played after the discussion.
At the beginning of discussions, two factions of Swechchasebak Dal leaders locked into a clash over seat arrangement before Fakhrul intervened.
Senior leaders of the party brought the situation under control.
