BNP's actions over July Charter implementation 'completely undesirable': Jamaat's Taher
Creating uncertainty right before the polls will disrupt the electoral process, he says
Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami's Nayeb-e-Ameer Syed Abdullah Mohammad Taher has said the "situation" created by the BNP over the implementation of the July Charter is "completely undesirable".
"The people want a national election in February. Creating uncertainty [over the July Charter] right before the polls will disrupt the electoral process," Taher said in a video message issued to Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus today (1 November).
The Jamaat leader also said retreating from the move to give legal backing to the July Charter would mean abandoning the reform agenda.
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"The chief adviser destroying his own reform initiative with his own hands is something the nation cannot believe," he said.
He further expressed hope that the chief adviser would not bow to any pressure regarding the matter.
Taher released the video message after a discussion event in his electoral constituency in Chauddagram, Cumilla.
Taher said the decision taken at the last meeting of the Advisory Council to amend the Representation of the People Order (RPO) amounted to yielding to the unreasonable demands of a particular party.
"Through this, the government's neutrality has been questioned," he said.
He also alleged that the current government's actions have repeatedly reflected allegiance to a specific political party.
"The chief adviser's trip to London to announce the election roadmap under pressure from a particular party and the recent reversal of the council's previous decisions are clear examples of this," he stated.
Taher further said that revisiting the council's earlier decision regarding the use of electoral symbols by different political parties has undermined the government's impartiality.
"We do not accept this decision and we strongly condemn it," he added.
He noted that both the Election Commission and the advisory council had previously agreed that each political party would contest the election using its own electoral symbol.
"We stand by that decision, and the nation agrees with it. Therefore, we demand the reinstatement of the earlier decision. Otherwise, we will take to the streets in protest," he warned.
