Election will only be held under CG with all party participation: Dudu

2013-04-23 Time : 23:02:40 

Dhaka: Opposition BNP on Tuesday warned the government that its dream of holding the next general election keeping BNP out of the race might turn into a nightmare.

“Dream is always a dream and decision should be taken on the basis of reality. The government’s dream of holding the next general election keeping BNP out of the race might become a nightmare,” said BNP chairperson’s adviser Shamsuzzaman Dudu while talking with journalists after passage of the first day of the 36-hour hartal on Tuesday evening at the party’s Nayapaltan central office where he has been staying for several days fearing arrest.

Referring to Awami League general secretary Syed Ashraful Islam’s remarks that the next general election would be held as per the current constitution after the expiry of the present government’s tenure, Dudu said the next general election must be held under a non-party caretaker government and that is final, otherwise the opposition parties will not let the government hold any unilateral election.
 “The Awami League will have to participate in the next general election that would be held under a non-party caretaker administration. Or else, they will be isolated from the people as their conspiracies to hold an unilateral polls will be doomed to fail,” he added.

The BNP leader harshly criticised Environment Minister Dr Hasan Mahmud and State Minister for Law Quamrul Islam for their threats to arrest all the top BNP leaders, saying who will go to jail will be determined after the next election.

Suggesting the ministers to increase the facilities in jails and make those comfortable and clean, Dudu said, “Those who killed 200 people in three days, killed 57 army officials soon after assuming office and indulged in theft, robbing, looting of banks and killings and pushed the country towards anarchy will have to go to jails.”  

Hasan Mahmud on Tuesday said, “The more you (BNP) will enforce hartal, the tougher will be the government against you. If you enforce hatal any more, all top leaders of your party will be put behind bars, if necessary, for the sake of maintaining law and order.”

Quamrul said the country’s situation will become peaceful with the arrest of some other leaders of BNP who are trying to create anarchy in the name of movement.

Dudu alleged that the government has continued its ill-motive to annihilate the country’s biggest political party BNP to hush up its failures, massive corruption and misdeeds. “The government will sink in the quicksand of its own plots it has been hatching for long.”

When his attention was drawn to President-elect Abdul Hamid’s call for cooperation of all, including the political leaders, so that he could play his due role with dignity, the BNP leader said they will take into consideration Hamid’s speeches only after the new President takes the oath of office.
He said the hartal was being observed across the country with the spontaneous participation of the common people.

Dudu claimed that police arrested over 170 opposition activists across the country during the hartal hours on Tuesday, while more than 290 injured in attacks by law enforcers and ‘armed ruling party cadres’.
“Besides, some 500 BNP men were implicated in false cases and seven others, including four women leaders and activists, were jailed by a mobile court,” added Dudu.