Quit now, people don't want you in power anymore: Fakhrul asks govt
Fakhrul alleged that the Election Commission staged a farce in the name of by-polls to Dhaka-17 on Monday
Describing their march as a "victory march" for realising people's rights, BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir yesterday called upon the Awami League to quit as people do not want to see them in power anymore.
"The people of entire Bangladesh have woken up to get back their lost rights and get rid of the misrule of the Awami League government," the BNP leader said while inaugurating their party's road march in the capital's Gabtoli area.
As part of their one-point movement, thousands of leaders and activists of BNP and its associate bodies joined the march towards Bahadur Shah Park in the old part of Dhaka from Gabtoli Bus Station.
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Fakhrul said they along with 36 other opposition parties have started a new journey for the restoration of democracy through the march programme.
"We'll achieve victory through his journey by realising our one-point demand. We'll defeat this terrible monstrous regime and form a government and parliament of people," the BNP leader said.
He urged the government to step down and dissolve parliament by handing over power to a neutral government.
"Not only BNP but also 36 other political parties simultaneously announced on 12 July that the current regime must resign immediately. The people of this country no longer want to see Awami League in power," the BNP secretary general said.
He called upon all the democratic political parties, organisations and professional bodies to take to the streets to protect the country and its people by ousting the Awami League regime.
He alleged that the Election Commission staged a farce in the name of by-polls to Dhaka-17 on Monday.
He said the ruling party could not take voters to the polling stations by installing a heavy-weight candidate and its main think-tank Mohammad Ali Arafat against Hero Alom.
"The polling stations were empty. The crippled, worthless and subservient Election Commission showed 11% voter turnout. We saw that there were no voters anywhere…after the announcement of the results, Arafat showed the victory sign. It's a matter of shame. Hero Alam, a non-political personality, was beaten and driven out of the polling station," Fakhrul said.
He criticised the silent role of police while a candidate was attacked by the ruling party activists in front of a polling station.
"The Election Commission says the election with 11% voter turnout was the best one. There is no point in making such mockery to deceive people," the BNP leader said.
He said while the people in the capital have been facing a difficult time due to a serious outbreak of dengue, the Dhaka South mayor went to Europe for a vacation. "The health minister went to America. What a sense of responsibility they have!"
The BNP leader said the current Awami League government is a regime of 'dishonest' businessmen.
He said it is a matter of shame that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina had a five-hour-long meeting with those who raise the prices of goods, electricity, loot thousands of crores of taka and build houses in Singapore, Canada, America and England.
"We express our hatred towards this regime as it has sent democracy to the grave and destroyed the electoral system…we would like to clearly say no election will be held under Hasina led illegitimate government," Fakhrul said.
The march reached Bahadur Shah Park walking a long stretch of around 16km road from Gabtoli around 5:45pm and it was concluded after a brief rally there.
BNP will also march on today from Uttara's Abdullahpur to Jatrabari from 10am to 4pm.
The other opposition parties and alliances will also observe the programme in the capital on the same day.
