BNP rules out going to election with Khaleda in jail

The BNP has made it clear it will not contest in the parliamentary elections if its Chairperson Khaleda Zia remains in jail.

Senior Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 18 Feb 2018, 04:17 PM
Updated : 18 Feb 2018, 04:17 PM

The 72-year-old former prime minister has been imprisoned on corruption charges, which her party describes as a politically motivated attempt to shut her out of the election.

On Saturday, Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader dismissed possibilities of dialogue on the election with the BNP, saying the party will take part in the polls regardless.

“On behalf of the BNP, I would like to say categorically that Khaleda Zia is an integral part of the BNP… ‘Without her, no election’ is what the people want,” Senior BNP leader Ruhul Kabir Rizvi told a media briefing on Sunday.

His comments came in response to Quader's remarks the previous day. "Where did you get this information that the BNP will take part in elections without Khaleda Zia?"

"Sometimes, the way you talk, it seems you are the general secretary of the ruling party and the policymaker of BNP," added the BNP senior joint secretary general.

A three-time former prime minister, Khaleda has been sentenced to five years in prison on Feb 8, when the court found her guilty of embezzling foreign donations made to an orphanage.

A two-year prison term for a criminal conviction disqualifies an individual from running in the parliamentary election.

However, a stay order on the trial court’s verdict, granted by the High Court, may open a window for Khaleda.