BNP Standing Committee Member Salahuddin Ahmed has said that people are now election-oriented, and anyone creating obstacles in this process will be politically rejected.
He made the comment while talking to journalists after paying tribute at the grave of BNP founder Ziaur Rahman on Tuesday.
“All the people of Bangladesh are now election-oriented; the election atmosphere is everywhere. Candidates, potential candidates, and the people are engaged in campaigns. In this situation, if any party creates confusion or obstructs the path of elections, people will identify and politically reject them,” he said.
Asked about Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus’s comment in New York that some international quarters are attempting to obstruct the elections and that conspiracies are being hatched both at home and abroad, Salahuddin said: “It is evident that some are conspiring to obstruct this democratic transition through elections. International quarters may be involved, and both local and foreign forces are active—we can assume this. But the people of Bangladesh are now united. In the post-uprising context, the people are determined. Whoever creates obstacles or conspires against the country’s democratic transition—whether domestic or foreign—they will be resisted.”
At 11:30am, Salahuddin Ahmed, along with leaders and activists led by Maulana Kazi Md Selim Reza, convener of Jatiyatabadi Ulema Dal, and Member Secretary Maulana Kazi Mohammad Abul Hossain, placed floral wreaths at Ziaur Rahman’s grave in Sher-e-Bangla Nagar to mark the organization’s 46th founding anniversary. Later, he spoke with journalists.
The Jatiyatabadi Ulema Dal was founded by President Ziaur Rahman on September 30, 1979.
‘PR means permanent restlessness’
Salahuddin Ahmed said: “The PR system is a permanent restlessness method. Through it, both in Bangladesh and elsewhere, we have seen constant instability. A stable government system is never established properly; governments cannot be formed based on majority, parliament remains hung, and instability persists. In one survey, I saw that 56% of people opposed the PR system. In another survey, a party claimed that 70% want PR. If 56% people don’t even understand PR, then how can 70% support it—that doesn’t make sense to us.”
He added, “For us, PR means public relations, PR means campaign. Everyone is engaged in campaign—that PR is what we believe in. Those who want proportional representation, or permanent restlessness, will not succeed.”
