BNP has welcomed former military dictator and Jatiya Party Chairman Ershad’s decision to back off from participating in the parliamentary election.
The main opposition, however, cannot put its trust in Ershad as he is “highly unpredictable in politics.”
Some senior BNP leaders said they wanted two more days before making any official comments as the period for nomination papers withdrawal ends on December 13.
The main opposition party’s Joint Secretary General Salahuddin Ahmed in a press release welcomed Ershad’s announcement and asked the government to suspend the polls schedule.
Jatiya Party (JP) Chairman HM Ershad on Tuesday said his party would not participate in the upcoming elections as all political parties did not submit nomination papers. He asked his party men to withdraw their candidature.
Mahbubur Rahman, a BNP standing committee member, said if he made the announcement from his realisation that the “one-sided and farcical election” would not bring any result to the national politics, then it was a positive gesture in the politics.
“Better to leave than never. If he sticks to his words then it is a positive approach to politics,” he told the Dhaka Tribune.
Mahbubur Rahman, also a former military chief, said Ershad is lacking credibility and he now has to restore it “not by words but by deeds”.
Inam Ahmed Chowdhury, adviser to the BNP chairperson, said Ershad’s decision is a realisation of the reality and he has a pressure from the party not to contest the polls.
“I think he has realised that if he contests the polls he might lose the support base and the one-sided election will not be accepted both at home and abroad,” he said.
When asked about whether he could believe in Ershad, he said: “Let us see two more days.”
Osman Farruk, an adviser to the BNP chairperson, said Ershad had taken a mature decision and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina should come to the sense that she has been isolated.
“Ershad’s decision to quit polls is the last nail in the coffin of the Awami League’s stage-managed election,” he said.
