Level playing field being undermined in various ways: Mahdi Amin

BNP Chairman's Adviser and spokesperson of the party's Election Steering Committee, Mahdi Amin, said the upcoming election is highly significant and people expect their aspirations to be reflected through a level playing field where all political parties enjoy equal opportunities. 

However, over the past few days, he said, the level playing field has unfortunately been undermined in various ways, creating the prospect of a controversial election process.

At a press conference held on Thursday afternoon (15 January) at the BNP's election office in Gulshan, he alleged that a particular political party is continuously misusing religious sentiments to serve its own interests.

He further alleged that the same political party has been going door to door collecting citizens' national identity cards and bKash numbers, suggesting dishonest motives behind the practice.

He alleged, postal ballots are being collected using one person's number in another person's name, which he termed unacceptable. 

As expatriate voting is being held for the first time in Bangladesh, he said the BNP wants fairness and equality to be ensured in expatriates' voting as well. He added that the BNP was the first party to pledge the establishment of voting rights for expatriates.

The BNP leader further said it was unfortunate that on postal ballots the party's electoral symbol, the sheaf of paddy, has been placed in a lower position, making it difficult to locate. 

He claimed that when the ballot is folded, the symbol is not clearly visible and may even be erased due to markings. 

In contrast, he alleged, the symbols of rival political parties have been strategically placed in more visible positions. 

He said this positional disparity could have been easily removed and transparency ensured by rearranging the columns or line numbers on the postal ballot.

Mahdi Amin said that during the last 16 years of what he described as a fascist era marked by enforced disappearances, killings, attacks and cases, several BNP candidates had been staying abroad. Naturally, they acquired citizenship there, and immediately after securing their nominations, they applied to renounce that citizenship. Despite the existence of those applications, attempts are now being made to create complications at the Election Commission over the issue of dual citizenship. 

However, he said, under Article 66 of the Constitution, there is no scope for any unnecessary controversy in this regard.

He alleged that several political parties are openly seeking votes for their respective candidates and parties using their symbols through various programmes and online platforms.

Regarding social media, Mahdi Amin said that Barrister Zaima Rahman's Facebook and Instagram accounts have recently been verified by Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram. Apart from these two blue-tick verified social media handles, she has no other official social media accounts.

He said more than 50 fake Facebook IDs and pages had already been removed by BNP's ICT department, from which deepfake and AI-generated videos were being circulated to spread misinformation. Efforts are ongoing with Meta authorities to remove the remaining fake accounts.

Mahdi Amin also said that numerous fake Facebook pages have been opened in the name of Tarique Rahman's wife, Dr Zubaida Rahman, from which fabricated and false AI-generated videos are being circulated. He clarified that Dr Zubaida Rahman has no social media account or page and urged everyone not to be misled.

He said that BNP has already launched a call centre to strengthen engagement with the general public during the election period. Anyone can call the hotline number 16543 to make inquiries, seek necessary information or advice, lodge complaints, or share opinions on any issue.

Mahdi Amin said the BNP has launched the "Match My Policy" initiative to gather public opinion and receive constructive feedback on various policies proposed by the party. The website link is: https://www.matchmypolicy.net/

He told the press conference that Tarique Rahman will officially begin his election campaign on 22 January with a visit to Sylhet, with further details to be announced later.