Staff Reporter:
BNP Senior Joint Secretary General and Prime Minister’s Political Adviser Ruhul Kabir Rizvi yesterday said changing the mindset of political parties, their leaders and activists is essential to strengthen democ-racy.
“No matter how many laws were enacted to establish democracy, it cannot be effectively established without any change in people’s mindsets. Everyone must develop a mentality of abiding by the law,” he said.
Rizvi said this while speaking as the chief guest at a discussion titled ‘Electoral Violence Monitoring Report: Bangladesh Parliamentary Elections and Referendum 2026.’
Human rights organization Odhikar arranged the discussion at the CIRDAP Auditorium in the city yes-terday afternoon.
Rizvi said people hope leaving behind what happened in the past, a new journey of democracy should begin.
“Democratic institutions will be improved, the judiciary will truly function, media will freely express opinions, and Election Commission will carry out its duties independently,” he hoped.
The veteran BNP leader said the opposition party will criticize the government sharply. And, this is the normal practice of democracy.
However, that criticism must be constructive, mutually beneficial, and future-oriented. Only then the path of democracy will be smooth and democracy will flourish, he noted.
“If political leaders remain cautious about use of their language, words, and sentence structure, no vio-lent attitudes will develop among activists,” he observed.
Regarding judicial independence, Rizvi said, it is expected that judges will play a prudent role in ex-pressing their opinions and delivering verdicts.
The situation seen in the judiciary in the past must not be repeated. To establish democracy and rule of law, all institutions of the state must be given the opportunity to function independently. At the same time, political parties must pay attention to their own conduct and activities, he added.
