Staff Reporter:
BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir yesterday said that the next parliament will take decision regarding the application of the PR (Proportional Representation) system in national elections.
He said, “The decision regarding PR should be left to the next parliament. If the representatives of the next parliament think that they will adopt the PR system and if the people think that they will go for the PR system, then the election will be held using the PR system.”
Fakhrul made the remarks at an exchange of views meeting with a delegation of the Christian Communi-ty at the party chairperson’s office in city’s Gulshan.
Mentioning that adopting the PR system for the current election would create complications, the veteran BNP leader said, “If the upcoming elections are held using the PR system, the public will not understand this process. Consequently, there is a possibility of complications arising.”
“The PR system is prevalent in many countries. However, the people of our country are not very famil-iar with this method. Yesterday, this issue is being brought up suddenly and with ulterior motives and there is an agitation for it,” he added.
Referring to the demand for the PR system as a misguided effort, Fakhrul said, “Those of us who want an election very soon to establish democracy and form a democratic government in the country are truly worried about this misguided effort.”
During this time, Mirza Fakhrul sought the cooperation of the Christian community in the upcoming national election. “We seek your cooperation in the next election. In the next election, the people will once again give their verdict that the people of Bangladesh are truly non-communal.”
Mentioning that BNP would work to solve the problems of various minority groups, ethnic minorities and indigenous people if BNP can form the next government through the election. “If BNP can form a government with the support of the people, we will take steps to solve the problems of the minority communities including the Christian community.”
Mirza Fakhrul also assured to build Bangladesh as a non-communal country. “We want to build Bangla-desh as a non-communal nation. And we want to build this nation as a Rainbow Nation,” he said.
President of Bangladesh Christian Lawyers Association Albert Rozario presided over the event, while Anil Leo Costa of the Bangladesh Christian Forum moderated it.
Chairman of Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Welfare Front Babu Bijon Kanti Sarkar, BNP Chair-person’s Advisory Council Member Shankar Patrick Costa, Assistant Secretary for Religious Affairs of BNP Advocate Jan Gomez, BNP Central Committee Member Ramesh Dutta, Trustee of Buddhist Reli-gious Welfare Trust and BNP Central Committee Member Sushil Barua and Christian leaders, among others, took part in the meeting.
