BNP presses on for prioritising national polls while Jamaat, Gono Odhikar seek local body elections first
The BNP today (20 February) once again reiterated its call for arranging the national elections swiftly at a time when some parties, including Jamaat-e-Islami and Gono Odhikar Parishad, have repeatedly demanded that local elections be held first.
Addressing a public gathering in Cumilla's Laksham and Monohorgonj as part of the BNP's movement to implement the 31-point state reform agenda, BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said, "We are saying that the [national] election should be held quickly. If so, a government will come that has the people's support.
"No matter how powerful the people running the government are, they must be backed by the public. That's why we are saying [to the interim government], don't delay it and hold the election as soon as possible," he added.
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The interim government has no authority to hold local government elections.
Noting that for the election to be arranged, any changes or reforms that are needed should be made, Fakhrul also said problems in the police force and the administration need to be fixed.
Addressing the government, he said, "Let us know when and how the election will be held. After that, the country will become a little more peaceful and stable. We cannot understand whatever is happening."
"I urge the government not to leave the nation in uncertainty and to hold the election quickly. I request other political parties not to make any statements that would destroy political unity. We want to act responsibly as a political party. We have been in power before and we will come to power again with the people's votes. Therefore, a stable change in the election system is needed."
Earlier on 13 February, Jamaat-e-Islami leaders held a meeting with Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) AMM Nasir Uddin and other election commissioners at the Election Commission office and stated their demand for holding local government elections before the national polls.
"We have informed the Election Commission that the people expect the local government system to be operational. The people's desire is for the local government elections to be held early. We have expressed our respect and support for this desire," Mia Golam Parwar, secretary general of Jamaat, told reporters after the meeting.
Speaking at an event on the same day, Mirza Fakhrul pointedly said they did not agree to it, adding it was a plot to take the country into a more fragile state from a political perspective.
Earlier today, Gono Odhikar Parishad called for local elections to be held first in the upcoming Jatiya Sangsad elections. Party President Nurul Haque Nur told reporters after a meeting with the chief election commissioner and other commissioners.
In the Cumilla conference, Mirza Fakhrul said, "Laksham is the area where people suffered the most under the oppression of the Awami League."
Referring to the former minister of Local Government and Rural Development, he said, "One of your ministers was Tazul Islam, right?... It was a reign of terror. Where is he now? Where has he fled? Has he hidden somewhere, or gone to India, you don't know. Those who commit torture, oppression, and injustice end up like this. They have to flee, just like Hasina and Tazul."
Also present at the conference, BNP Standing Committee member Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury, said, "Some people are saying that local government elections should be held earlier. The interim government has no authority to hold local government elections.
"The goal is to guide Bangladesh towards a free and fair election and transfer power to an elected government. Beyond this, they have no other power."
The timing for holding the local government elections — whether it should be before or after the national polls — appears to be a serious bone of contention between political parties, with the BNP and Jamaat leading two opposite camps.
The recommendations of the two reform commissions formed by the interim government for holding local government polls before the parliamentary one have only fuelled the debate further.
Analysts believe politics will only heat up over local government elections in the coming days with new political parties led by students who also prefer local body polls over the parliamentary one in the offing.
The BNP, which emerged as the largest political party in Bangladesh after the fall of its arch-rival Awami League-led by Sheikh Hasina, has been consistently opposing any move to hold elections to local government bodies before the national polls.
On the other hand, its former ally Jamaat has now seemingly poised itself as a rival of the BNP in post-Hasina politics in Bangladesh, preferring local government elections over the parliamentary polls.
