Govt assured preparations underway to hold national election by December this year: Fakhrul

The government has assured that preparations are underway to hold the national election by December this year, BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said today (10 February).

After a meeting with Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus at the CA's residence, the BNP leader told reporters that the interim government might make an announcement regarding the election roadmap by 15 February.

Fakhrul they have urged the government to hold elections quickly. "We have discussed the need for minimal reforms, based on discussions with the reform commissions, and after reaching an agreement, we talked about holding the elections promptly.

The party will not accept local government elections or any other elections before the national polls, Fakhrul said.

In response to a question from reporters, Fakhrul said, "On the issue of holding local government elections, we will never agree. I have clearly said before, and I am saying it again — no election will take place before the formation of a national government."

Fakhrul also said the government cannot avoid responsibility for recent vandalism incidents across the country. 

The incidents have occurred in front of various government institutions and forces, severely threatening the stability of the country's law and order, Fakhrul said.

"Even now, there are remnants of fascism in the administration, and they are causing harm to Bangladesh as a whole. We have called for bringing that under the law and removing such people from the administration. We have demanded bringing back the money stolen by those who plundered the economy and bringing them to justice."

He further said political leaders and activists have been harassed over the past 15 years through false cases. "We discussed the withdrawal of these cases, and there was agreement on this matter."

"We strongly raised the issue of commodity prices, which is one of the government's major failures — its inability to control prices. They assured us that the government is working on it."

Regarding Operation Devil Hunt, he said, "Finally, we informed them about the law and order situation. There have been many operations in the past, and we emphasised that, as in the past, innocent people should not be harmed. We hope there won't be any issues related to this."

A three-member BNP delegation led by Fakhrul joined the meeting which started at 6:05pm, BNP Media Cell said in a Facebook post this evening.

The delegation included BNP Standing Committee members Salahuddin Ahmed and Hafiz Uddin Ahmed, reports UNB.

Earlier yesterday, BNP Joint Secretary General Salahuddin Ahmed said a BNP delegation will meet the CA to express concerns over recent incidents of vandalism across the country, including at Dhanmondi 32.

Besides, on the day, a BNP delegation, led by Standing Committee member Nazrul Islam Khan, met Chief Election Commissioner AMS Nasir Uddin and other election commissioners at the Election Commission office.

The BNP leaders were briefed on the commission's preparations for the upcoming parliamentary elections.