Proportional representation system ‘completely unacceptable’ for elections, says Fakhrul

The Jamaat, Islami Andolan and NCP have been demanding elections under the PR system

BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir has dismissed the idea of holding elections under a proportional representation (PR) system, saying it is “completely unacceptable” to the party.

On his return from Thailand on Tuesday evening, he said at Dhaka airport that the party has made its stand on the matter “very clear”.

“This system is not understood by the people of this country, nor do they know how it is applied. Look at how long the authorities tried to implement the EVM system, only to scrap it in the end.”

He said that in a PR system, the voters cannot fully exercise their rights, as they do not even know who they are voting for.

“This is not acceptable to us,” he added.

Other political parties, including the Jamaat-e-Islami and Islami Andolan Bangladesh, have been demanding elections under the PR system.

On Sunday, Jamaat’s Nayeb-e-Ameer Syed Abdullah Muhammad Taher raised the demand to carry out PR-based elections for both houses of the legislature.

The National Citizen Party (NCP) has also been pushing for this system.

When asked about these demands, Fakhrul reiterated: “We believe in direct voting by the people, where citizens can elect their representatives through the ballot. That is what the people of this country want.”