BNP wants fresh, not interim, election under ‘non-partisan’ government

The BNP has said it wants a new general election that will not be overseen by the Awami League government, not an interim vote.

Spokesperson Asaduzzaman Ripon clarified the stand in a press briefing at the party’s Naya Paltan headquarters on Sunday amidst media hype over a possible interim balloting. 
 
Awami League’s General Secretary Syed Ashraful Islam has already dismissed chances of snap elections and giving in to the BNP’s demand for polls under a ‘non-partisan’ government.
 
Ripon termed the Jan 5, 2014 elections ‘abnormal’ and said, “Our party believes it was not Sahi [Right], the people could not exercise their voting rights.”
 
“There is no question for interim polls. We want an election which would be contested by all parties under a non-partisan government.”

‘AL also boycotted polls’

Ripon, the BNP’s International Affairs Secretary, said Syed Ashraf got it wrong when he said the Awami League never boycotted election.

He referred to the elections in 1988 and on Feb 15, 1996, and the ballot scheduled for Jan 22, 2007.

The 1988 polls held under military strongman HM Ershad were boycotted by all opposition parties.

The Feb 15, 1996 vote was held under the BNP and boycotted by three major opposition parties, and the subsequent Parliament lasted only a day.

The Jan 22, 2007 polls were forestalled in the face of protests by the Awami League which accused the caretaker government headed by the BNP’s Iajuddin Ahmed of being partisan.

‘BNP is here to stay'

Ripon also reacted to Syed Ashraf’s claim that the BNP would not survive if it stayed away from another general election.

He said politics was a ‘dream’ and a party would fulfil that dream. “The BNP will stay alive by implementing (founder Ziaur Rahman’s) ideals. There is no reason for it to become extinct.”