Different kinds of force may emerge if election not held quickly: Fakhrul

An election-time neutral government may be needed if the current interim government doesn’t remain impartial, BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir has said.

He made the remark while speaking at a discussion at Jatiya Press Club in the capital on Thursday (January 23).

The discussion was organized by Shaheed Asad Parishad on the 56th death anniversary of Shaheed Asad who was killed during the mass uprising of 1969.

With Shaheed Asad Parishad President Dr Mahbub Ullah in the chair, the discussion was also addressed by BNP Chairperson’s adviser Aman Ullah Aman, joint secretary general Khairul Kabir Khokon and Ganasanghati Andolon’s chief coordinator Jonayed Saki, among others.

Mirza Fakhrul said the interim government should move toward the election after quick necessary reforms to fulfill the hopes and aspirations of people.

The BNP Secretary General also called upon all not to give any scope to the ghosts of autocrat creating disunity among themselves.

Mentioning that different kinds of controversies are now going on, he said after a changeover of power, people in a democratic state want their basic rights will be ensured and social justice will be established. “Election should be held as early as possible, because the country’s people have remained deprived of the exercising their voting rights for long 15 years. Now, they want to cast their ballots,” he said.

Expressing the apprehension, he said different types of force often emerge if time is wasted over election. “There is no problem who is elected or who is not elected. Election doesn’t mean taking a party to power, rather it means moving toward democracy.”

The BNP leader said talks on reform are now going on. Will we wait four to five years more to see the implementation of reforms? Bureaucracy is moving at a snail’s pace like that of the past. The elected government will carry on rest of the reforms after holding an election following minimum reforms.

Mirza Fakhrul said: “Following the July Mass Uprising, people had great expectation that the interim government will fulfill their hopes and aspirations. But, we don’t see anything else so that we can say that the hopes and aspirations of people will be fulfilled by this government.”