BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia has accused Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina of breaching electoral codes of conduct by electioneering using state protocol.
The opposition chief made the accusation at a mass rally in Rajshahi on Monday.
She said: “You [prime minister] are conducting election campaigns violating laws and seeking votes illegally. What is the use of seeking vote for an election that will never take place?”
Khaleda’s address at the Rajshahi Madrasa playground was a wrap up of her much-hyped tour to the country’s north aimed at drumming up public support in favour of the movement for ousting the government and forcing restoration of the caretaker government system.
Issuing yet another ultimatum, she warned of lodging “new agitation programmes” if the bill for reinstalling non-party interim government system in the constitution was not tabled in the ongoing session of parliament.
“You [the government] must pass the caretaker government bill in parliament by amending the constitution and dissolve parliament by October 25. Otherwise we will come up new action programmes,” she said.
The BNP-led 18-party opposition alliance has issued three similar ultimatums before with the same demand – on March 12, 2012, June 21, 2012 and May 4, 2013.
The former premier alleged that the government had amended the constitution just to stay in power forever. “The constitution is no Quran or Bible that it could not be amended. The constitution is for the people and could be amended.”
Referring to 2006, Khaleda said: “If you [prime minister] could not accept former chief justice KM Hasan as the chief of the interim government, then how do you expect that you would be accepted as the chief?”
According to the provisions of the now-defunct caretaker government system, KM Hasan was the last retired chief justice of the Supreme Court in 2006 and was supposed to head the then polls-time government. However, he later declined to take the post after the Awami League, then in opposition, strongly opposed.
Referring to the recent Chhatra League attack on a rally of the Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB) in Sylhet, Khaleda said: “Chhatra League has surprised people by attacking a small left party CPB in Sylhet.”
Warning the Election Commission against registering Bangladesh
Nationalist Front, she said people would not spare the EC if BNF got registration.
“As none of the political parties wants to contest polls under the Awami League government, it is forming new political parties. These parties do not even have an office and 10 supporters …BNF has nothing.”
Former BNP leaders Nazmul Huda and Jahanara Begum floated BNF in August 2012 although Huda was ousted from the party a few months later.
Urging the young generation to raise their voices against the misdeeds of the government, Khaleda said: “We will show you [the youth] the right path and you will walk on that path.”
Although the opposition chief did not say anything directly about the Jamaat-e-Islami leaders in jail, she said she wanted the release of all political prisoners.
Hundreds of Jamaat and Shibir activists could be seen chanting slogans in Khaleda Zia’s mass rally. The first few rows in the front of the gathering were entirely occupied by Jamaat-Shibir leaders and activists.
At one point, the Jamaat-Shibir men got involved in a scuffle with the leaders and activists of BNP.
Rajshahi is one of the strongholds of Jamaat-e-Islami, one of the key allies of BNP and the party often linked with committing crimes against humanity during the 1971 Liberation War.
