Government destabilising country with NCT foreign deal before election, says BaSaD’s Masud Rana

Instead of ensuring a fair electoral environment, the interim government is signing foreign deals one after another, he says

The Socialist Party of Bangladesh’s (BaSaD-Marxist) Central Coordinator Masud Rana has said the government is destabilising the country ahead of the parliamentary polls by signing a contract to appoint foreign operators at the New Mooring Container Terminal (NCT) of Chattogram.

He alleged that instead of ensuring a fair electoral environment, the interim government is entering into one agreement after another with foreigners.

He made the remarks on Friday afternoon at an election rally of Asma Akter, the candidate of BaSaD-Marxist, a partner of the Ganatantrik Jukta Front coalition, in the Chattogram-10 constituency, held at the Sholoshohor Railway Station grounds.

With the February elections looming, the proposed handover of the NCT to a foreign company returned to the spotlight on Thursday following a High Court order.

The High Court dismissed a rule challenging the legality of the ongoing contract process between the Chittagong Port Authority and the foreign firm, clearing the way for the deal.

On the same day, the Chittagong Port unit of the Jatiotabadi Shramik Dal announced an eight-hour work stoppage on Saturday and Sunday, demanding suspension of the government decision.

Earlier, media reports said the government was pressing ahead with plans to hand over the NCT to UAE-based DP World.

The move has drawn opposition from the Chittagong Port Workers’ Party, several leftist groups, and leaders of political parties, including the BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami.

“At this moment, the interim government’s sole responsibility is to strictly maintain law and order, remove public insecurity and fear, and ensure a fair environment for the election. But they have failed to ensure that,” said Masud.

“Instead of focusing fully on this task, the government is exploiting the opportunity when the public attention is on the election to sign one deal after another with foreign entities, with no minimum level of accountability or transparency,” he said.