Photo: Collected
The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) has called for holding the 13th national election by the middle of this year or in July-August. Saying it was possible to make that happen, the party's Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir today (14 January) urged the interim government to take immediate steps to prepare for the election.
"It's possible to prepare the voter list within a month and the national election can be held mid-year," he told a press conference at the BNP chairperson's office in Dhaka's Gulshan this morning. "BNP believes there is no need to hold local elections before the national election, as it would further delay the parliamentary polls," he said.
Criticising the gas price hike and the VAT and tax increase on essential goods, Fakhrul said that these measures would escalate public suffering. The press conference was organised to share updates on the BNP Standing Committee meeting held last night (13 January).
Acting Chairman of BNP Tarique Rahman presided over the meeting virtually from London. Sources said the issues of the next election and other political matters were discussed during the meeting. The party's high command gave its opinion for holding the national election in the middle of this year.
BNP leaders observed that thinking of holding local government election before the national poll is just a waste of time, said the meeting sources. The interim government should organise the national elections in the middle of this year according to the people's wishes and leave the matter of local government poll for the next elected government, they said.
Messenger/Tareq
