Dhaka, Sep 24 (IANS) The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) has alleged that the groups defeated in the country’s 1971 Liberation War are attempting to derail the upcoming national elections by staging street protests demanding a Proportional Representation (PR) system, local media reported.
Addressing a discussion titled ‘Democracy and the Constitution of Bangladesh in the Current Context’ in Dhaka, BNP Standing Committee member Selima Rahman accused radical Islamist parties, including Jamaat-e-Islami, of taking to the streets in the name of the PR system to create instability in the country.
“We are observing that even after the announcement of the election roadmap, there is still a plot to stop or delay the election. The conspirators are the defeated forces of 1971. They are talking about PR, which ordinary people neither know nor understand,” Bangladesh’s leading newspaper, The Dhaka Tribune, quoted Selima as saying.
She argued that under the PR system, there would be no individual candidates, as people would only be able to cast their vote for a party.
Reiterating the BNP’s strong opposition, she warned that the PR system would only erode people’s voting rights.
Slamming Jamaat, Selima further said, “Jamaat — those who once killed people of this country, who betrayed the nation by siding with Pakistan, who acted as Razakars and Al-Badr, who raped women and handed them over to the occupation forces — today they may appear holy in their words, but they have not forgotten their past ideology.”
The BNP leader also accused Jamaat of “trying to undermine the hard-won democratic achievements” of Bangladesh, which were gained through a long struggle.
“Their aim is to stop the election, to delay it, or to create instability in the country. But the people of Bangladesh will not allow this. BNP is a large party, and it will never let that happen. The election will be held, people will cast their votes, and an accountable government will be established. That is our promise,” she added.
Last week, the BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir slammed the joint street programmes announced by several radical Islamist parties, including Jamaat, arguing that pressing for demands, such as the PR system in elections, is “not good for democracy”.
The parties that earlier collaborated with Muhammad Yunus to overthrow the democratically elected government of the Awami League, led by Sheikh Hasina, are now at loggerheads over reform proposals.
–IANS
int/scor/sd/
