BNP ‘not satisfied’ by chief advisor’s remarks on election

BNP leader Mirza Fakhrul says the political, economic, and social situation in the country will “start to get worse” if elections are not held by December

BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir has expressed his disappointment at Chief Advisor Muhammad Yunus’s statement that the general election will be held between December this year and June next year.

“We are absolutely not satisfied at his [chief advisor’s] remarks,” he said.

A seven-member BNP delegation led by Fakhrul met with the chief advisor at his official residence State Guest House Jamuna on Wednesday afternoon.

When Fakhrul and the other BNP leaders spoke to the media after the meeting, the despondency was clear on his face.

He said, “The honourable chief advisor did not give us a specific timeline for the election. He said that he wanted the election to be held between December and June… that is what he told us today.”

“We said plainly that December is the cut-off time. If there is no election by December, then the political, economic, and social situation in the country will start to deteriorate and it will be difficult to bring it under control.”

Asked whether the December to June timeframe seemed prolonged, Fakhrul said:

"[The chief advisor] said it would be held between December and June. He did not say it would be in December.”

“We said clearly that our cut-off time is December.”

The BNP leader continued, “We will come back again after we discuss the situation internally and with our allied parties… We will make a decision.”

The BNP delegation entered the State Guest House Jamuna for the meeting at 12:15pm on Wednesday. After an hour and 45 minutes, the group left the building and spoke to the press. The need for a specific roadmap for the national elections, the economic situation, the scrapping of politically motivated cases, and the trial of the “fascist” Sheikh Hasina were among the topics discussed with Yunus, the party said.

Standing Committee members Jamir Uddin Sircar, Mirza Abbas, Nazrul Islam Khan, Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury, Salah Uddin Ahmed, and Iqbal Hasan Mahmud Tuku were part of the BNP contingent at the meeting.

Fakhrul said, “The main point of our discussion was the specific roadmap for the elections that we have been talking about for some time. I spoke to him [Yunus] about it. We said that given the situation and the state of the country, we believe that the problems here need to be resolved through a swift and acceptable election.”

“At the same time, you know that we are fully cooperating with the various reform commissions that have been formed… the initiatives that have been taken by the government. We have given our feedback to the reform commission that was formed a few days ago. We have a meeting tomorrow.”

‘JULY CHARTER THROUGH CONSENSUS’

Fakhrul said, “We have stated very clearly that we are willing to form a charter of the issues that all the parties agree on. Then we can move towards the elections and the remaining reforms that we have agreed upon. When our political parties are elected, we will definitely take action to implement them.”

A delegation led by Fakhrul last met with the chief advisor at the Jamuna on Feb 10. At that time, he told the BNP delegation that preparations were underway for elections in December.

A meeting of the BNP standing committee -- the party’s highest policymaking body -- led by Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman was held on Tuesday night. The meeting with the chief advisor was part of the discussion.

The leaders said a written statement from the party would also be delivered to the chief advisor.