Govt starts ‘old game’ to clear election field: BNP

BNP secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on Tuesday said the government has once again started the ‘old game’ of arresting and harassing BNP leaders and activists to clear the field before the next general election.

“The way they completely controlled the 2014 and 2018 elections and took the results in their favour, today they have again started the same process what we say rigging process to completely eliminate the opposition from the field,” he said.

He made these remarks during a press conference at BNP Chairperson’s Gulshan office where he highlighted the false cases and arrests of BNP leaders and activists across the country, reports UNB.

“You can remember they started the process in 2018 just after announcement of the election schedule but this time they have stated this much ahead of the polls by filing false cases and terrorismto completely remove the opposition leaders and activists from the field,” he said.

Fakhrul said the unelected government which has been in power without people’s mandate is working to remove the opposition from the field of election and coming back to power again.

The BNP leader said, “ Our movement against the government is ongoing and will be more rapid and intense which will force the government to accept people’s demand.”

He said they will announce new programmes soon after discussing with the partner parties.

He further alleged that the government has prepared a list from the Ministry of Law for to expedite the false cases they have filed in the past and are moving forward with it by controlling the judiciary.

Fakhrul said that the government has filed over 1,11,543 cases against opposition party leaders and activists across the country against more than 39,78,481 accused . Among those, move than 2830 cases were filed under the Digital Security Act(DSA), he added.

He said that the government has started using the entire state machinary, including the judiciary and the administration, to remove the senior leaders of the opposition and those playing a leadership role in the ongoing movement.

The BNP leader said no election under this ‘illegal government’ can be fair and acceptable and the people cannot exercise their right to vote freely.

“That’s why the demand for the dissolution of this parliament, the resignation of this illegal government and the transfer of power to a non-party neutral government has become a demand of mass people today. Therefore, I am calling on the government to resign as per the 10-point demand announced by BNP,” he added.