Salahuddin calls proportional vote demand ‘politically motivated’

He warns attempts to reshape the system are aimed at “delaying, even derailing”, the general election

BNP's senior leader Salahuddin Ahmed has criticised the renewed calls for proportional representation (PR) system and local polls before the general election, calling it a “tactical move” to disrupt Bangladesh’s electoral timetable.

Speaking after a memorial event for late president Ziaur Rahman at Dhaka’s International Mother Language Institute on Saturday, he said the demands reflect clear “political agendas”.

He warned the objective could be to “delay or derail” the general election.

“The people of Bangladesh are united, and the democratic movement has fought for a free and fair general election, not local polls,” Salauddin said.

“We have lost countless lives for our voting rights. Students have led mass uprising. The blood of martyrs calls for building a strong democratic state.”

On the PR system, he noted that while some parties may push it for political reasons, no consensus was reached in past National Consensus Commission talks.

Salauddin, a member of BNP’s Standing Committee, called it a foreign concept “unsuited” to Bangladesh, pointing to complications seen where it has been tried elsewhere.

“In proportional representation, voters often do not know who their MP will be or whom to approach. The BNP has long rejected this system as inappropriate for Bangladesh,” he said.

He reaffirmed the BNP’s support for the one-person, one-vote system where voters elect their local representatives directly.

“Raising PR as a political demand is their right, but forcing it on everyone else serves no purpose,” he added.