Hasty government formation ‘out of fear’, says BNP leader Rizvi

‘Life falls into such sleepless uncertainty when someone sets up a throne on the house of cards in the course of the fraud,’ the BNP leader says

Senior BNP leader Ruhul Kabir Rizvi has questioned the formation of the new government by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina four days after the parliamentary elections which his party boycotted and delivered an absolute majority for the Awami League.

He said the BNP's arch rival staged a 'farcical' election and the issuance of a gazette notification before the end of her parliament "elected in a night vote", hasty swearing-in and unprecedented speed with which the new government was formed proved that that "an unknown fear surrounds her".

“Everything was illegal and fake. Life plunges into an abyss of sleepless uncertainty when someone establishes a dominion within a house of cards through fraudulent means. We do not want to speak about the newly-formed dummy cabinet,” Rizvi said at the first media briefing at the BNP headquarters in Dhaka’s Naya Paltan on Friday, after a 57-day closure of the office following clashes on Oct 28.

The senior joint secretary general also expressed concerns over the grim situation of detained BNP activists and spoke about the party’s plan to continue the anti-government protests.

The Awami League has formed the government for a fourth straight term after securing victory in 222 constituencies in the Jan 7 election. The new cabinet, led by Hasina, took their oaths of office at Bangabhaban on Thursday.

Criticising the election and the new government, Rizvi said, “The people of the country and the democratic world have boycotted the election. Everything around the poll, including the process, individuals, results, swearing-in, parliament and government’ is unacceptable.”