Dhaka Tribune has interviewed several central and grassroots-level leaders of the BNP to learn about their thoughts on the next elections, the Election Commission and the election-time government.
Most of the central leaders, wishing to remain anonymous, said that they would not accept Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina as the chief of the interim government overseeing the 2019 polls, and that the BNP would be wrong if they do not take a stand against the government.
BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia is set to propose a formula on November 18 about the reconstitution of the EC and the interim government.
Also read -Khaleda to place proposal on EC formation November 18
“The election must happen, as there are no other alternatives. We have been talking about the issues for a while, but the government is not paying a heed,” Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said.
“Firstly, the election will have to be 100% fair, and secondly it must be impartial and unquestionable,” he said.
Replying to a query, Fakhrul said: “It is the responsibility of the government to ensure a free and fair election, and it is impossible under Sheikh Hasina or the Awami League.”
Since the caretaker government provision was annulled by the government in 2011, now the polls are to be held under the incumbent government. The BNP-led 20-party alliance boycotted the 2014 polls.
“We do not know whether the constitution will be amended or not,” Fakhrul said, about holding the election under a non-partisan government.
About Khaleda's proposals, he said: “We cannot say whether the government will accept it or not. We expect good sense to prevail. The nation does not want to see an election like the last one.”
Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi deplored that the government had rejected several times the BNP's proposals to form search committees taking opinion of all political parties.
Also read- ‘BNP will participate in next polls if Hasina not interim govt chief’
Rizvi and Standing Committee member Nazrul Islam Khan echoed Fakhrul to claim that a free and fair election cannot be held under a partisan government.
Nazrul thinks an independent EC is a prerequisite for a fair and free election. “An impartial non-party government is also a must to hold a fair election.”
He, however, appreciated the government's statement that they want to hold a fair election.
“The BNP is now looking forward to see initiatives in line with the statement in the future. We will declare our next course of action if the government rejects the proposals of our party chairperson.”
