Staff Reporter:
Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) is becoming more desperate as the 12th parliamentary election is getting closer, Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader said on Thursday.
“The target of BNP’s brutal politics is the police and other people… their secret attacks might be deadlier [in the days to come],” he told reporters at a press conference held at the party president’s Dhanmondi political office in Dhaka.
Quader said discussions are going on with all like-minded parties and other stakeholders to resist the anti-election activities together.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is walking the path of election to protect the continuity of the constitution, he said.
About the independent candidates, Quader said that Awami League will not prevent anyone from competing in the election independently. “None will have any objection if they [independent candidates] are elected by the people’s votes.”
At the press conference, Quader, also the road transport and bridges minister, spoke about the growing concern over the potential trade sanctions on Bangladesh.
He said Bangladesh will not purchase products from those countries that will impose sanctions on Bangladesh.
The minister made the statements as a US buyer company has set a new condition that it will neither accept the apparel products nor settle the bills if any sanctions are imposed on Bangladesh.
Quader said the United States cannot make any unilateral decision regarding Bangladesh, while the European Union is in dispute with the US.
Mentioning that Bangladesh is not friendless in the world, he said the US-friendly countries in Europe, Asia, and the Pacific region are no longer in favour of making any extreme decision about Bangladesh.