Nothing now under govt’s control due to ‘unbridled’ corruption: Fakhrul

BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on Tuesday said Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina repeatedly talks about a possible famine in the country next year as her government is losing control due to ‘unbridled’ corruption and mismanagement.

Speaking to reporters at BNP Chairperson’s Gulshan office after talks with National Democratic Party (NDP) and Jamiat Ulama-e Islam, he said nothing, including the administration, is now under the control of the government.

As his attention was drawn to the prime minister’s warning about a possible famine in Bangladesh, Fakhrul said, “We also can’t understand why is she saying this and where does the problem lie?”

He said only a few days back the government claimed that the country became self-sufficient in food. “What has happened now for which they fear that the county will face a food crisis? The main thing is massive corruption in every sector and everywhere, and they now can’t tackle it.”

The BNP leader alleged that the country has been witnessing extreme load-shedding only because of the government’s corruption. “They’re now facing problems to supply electricity, and corruption is the only reason behind it.”

Under such a situation in the country, he wondered how the government is now going to procure Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) at the cost of Tk 8,000 crore to hold a staged election while Tk43 crore will be spent on constructing the houses for the Cabinet Secretary and the Principal Secretary.

“So, what do you expect from this regime? It’s an unbelievable incident. Corruption is taking place in a similar way in every sector. That’s why they’re facing such a situation and this regime has completely failed to run the state,” Fakhrul observed.

He alleged that the government has no management anywhere as corruption is everywhere. "As a result, the (govt’s) control over the whole administration has been completely destroyed.''

Rallies spread panic among AL leaders

Fakhrul said people’s massive response to BNP’s rallies in Chattogram and Mymensingh has spread panic among the ruling party leaders and activists.

In Mymensingh, he said the government imposed an undeclared curfew and created various obstacles which failed to prevent people from joining the rally.

The BNP leader alleged that the government filed ‘false’ cases against their party’s 437 leaders and activists in Mymensingh using the police. “They won’t be able to stay in power by resorting to suppression, repression, killing, firing and enforced disappearance, no matter how powerful they are.”

Earlier, Fakhrul had separate meetings with the delegations of NDP and Jamiat Ulama-e Islam, two components of the BNP-led 20-party alliance, as part of their party’s second round of political dialogue.

NDP chairman KM Abu Taher and Jamiat Ulama-e Islam chief Moulana Monsurul Hasan led each 10-member deletion of their respective parties.

Through the discussions, Fakhrul said, they agreed on some demands of their coming simultaneous movement, including the ouster of the current government, restoration of democracy, unconditional release of Khaleda Zia and withdrawal of the false cases filed against the opposition members and holding the next polls under a non-party neutral government. “We’ll initiate a simultaneous movement focusing on these issues.”