Who will be in upper house of bicameral parliament not yet finalised: BNP
The BNP has yet to finalise who will be elected in the upper house of their proposed bicameral government, the party's Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said today.
"We want to establish a bicameral parliament. Who will be in the upper house has not yet been finalised. But the idea is to elect those who do not directly contest elections but can contribute to the country," he said during a symposium titled "White Paper and Thereafter: Economic Management, Reforms and National Budget" at the Bangabandhu International Conference Centre (BICC) in the capital today (18 January).
He said his party also plans to work towards reducing inequality, acknowledging that it will not be possible to resolve the issues overnight for they were created over the past 15 years, during the Awami League regime.
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For this reason, he said they proposed the formation of a national government after holding the elections.
"We have talked about forming the government with the participation of those who are involved in the elections as well as the [Anti-discrimination Student] movement."
The BNP will focus on political reforms if the party returns to power, said Fakhrul, adding, "We spoke about reforms two years ago. The 31-point outline for state reforms, where we elaborated on what we want to do. The focus will be on two types of reforms, economic and political, with political reforms being prioritised."
He further said, "After the 2024 July uprising, a strong desire for change has emerged, and people want to see Bangladesh as a truly happy and prosperous country, and they want to improve their living standards.
"Without changes in the political structure, it would be difficult to fulfill these aspirations. This is why they have talked about making changes in certain political structures, including balancing the powers of the prime minister and the president."
The BNP also proposed that the prime minister should not serve more than two terms, he said, emphasising democratic practices within political parties.
They also aim to strengthen institutions, said the party's secretary general.
In response to a question about the obstacles in this process, Mirza Fakhrul said that if the BNP is elected, they will dedicate all their efforts to overcoming these challenges.
However, for now, their responsibility is to assist those who are working toward these goals, said Fakhrul.
He reiterated the BNP's call for announcing the national election soon.
