Staff Reporter:
Claiming that people turned down Sunday’s voting, BNP on Monday demanded the cancellation of the 12th parliamentary election and the resignation of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
At a press conference at the party chairperson’s Gulshan office, the party also renewed its demand for a fresh election under a non-party polls-time government to establish a legitimate and accountable gov-ernment.
To mobilise public support for their demands, the BNP also announced a two-day mass contact pro-gramme for Tuesday and Wednesday.
“The country’s people unilaterally and spontaneously rejected the ‘dummy election’ of January 7. So, we first of all congratulate the freedom-loving and democracy-loving people of the country on behalf of 63 pro-democracy political parties, including BNP, said party Standing Committee member Dr Abdul Moy-een Khan.
He also said the government failed to take voters to the polling stations with various threats and intimi-dation. “Despite various abuses of state power, use of dummy election commission or controlled media and various excuses, the reality is that the people of the country unilaterally rejected the January 7 fake election.”
The BNP leader said there was no voting and election on January 7. “What happened was vote robbery and vote rigging. “Both the election results and the percent of voter turnout were predetermined by the government. The Election Commission announced the percentage of voter turnout exactly as the gov-ernment says. It’s a meaningless figure.”
He said they will continue their movement peacefully until an accountable and elected government is established.
Another BNP standing committee member Nazrul Islam Khan said their party wanted to establish a gov-ernment elected by people’s vote and accountable to them.
“A free and fair election is necessary for it what didn’t happen yesterday (Sunday). So, people have turned down this election. Everyone is saying the voter turnout which was shown (by the EC) was fake,” he said.
“So, BNP and other political parties who have on a movement for the restoration of democracy demand the immediate cancellation of the dummy election of January 7, resignation of Sheikh Hasina and for-mation of a polls-time non-party neutral government for holding a national election,” Nazrul said.
Moyeen said they will conduct mass contacts on Tuesday and Wednesday and then they will announce the fresh course of action.
