Fakhrul slams govt for creating situation to derail polls

BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on Friday accused the interim government of creating a situation over the implementation of the July National Charter with the intention of delaying the national election.

Speaking before inaugurating the party’s rally marking National Revolution and Solidarity Day, Fakhrul said the people of Bangladesh will not accept anything other than holding the national election and the referendum on the July Charter on the same day in February next year.

“It is unfortunate that the interim government, which we fully supported, is now itself creating a situation so that the election may be disrupted,” Fakhrul said.

He alleged that some political parties pushing for a separate referendum are also conspiring to foil the national election.

“If there is a referendum, it must be held on the same day as the election, and that election must take place in February 2026. Otherwise, the people of Bangladesh will not accept anything else,” the BNP leader warned.

Fakhrul said the BNP also extended full support to the interim government when it started working on reforms and preparing the National Charter.

“For almost a year, they worked on drafting the Charter. On October 17, in front of the Parliament, all political parties signed the document based on consensus reached through the National Consensus Commission,” he said.

The BNP leader, however, alleged that later, Consensus Commission Vice Chair Dr Ali Riaz, along with the Chief Adviser, came up with new proposals and recommendations that excluded several agreed points from the signed Charter.

He said it was unanimously agreed that if any party had objections, those objections or notes of dissent would be recorded in the final document. “But that was not done. We did not accept it and made our position clear in a press conference.”

Fakhrul said an adviser, at a recent press conference, stated that the advisory council had decided to give the political parties seven days to discuss among themselves and take a final decision on the implementation of the July Charter.

“Then what was the point of holding seven months of meetings under the National Consensus Commission, discussing every reform proposal and reaching an agreement to sign the National Charter? How could that happen? You spent so much money on this process, yet it brought no solution for the political parties.”

Fakhrul also criticised Jamaat and some other political parties for putting pressure to hold the referendum before the election.

“Why should there be a referendum before the election? We have agreed to the referendum, but it must be held on the same day as the election. Holding two separate votes will cost a lot of money and disrupt the main national election,” he said.

Fakhrul said the spirit of November 7 is the spirit of democracy. “Our party, the BNP, was born through reform. Our leader, President Ziaur Rahman Bir Uttam, initiated that reform.”

He said BNP Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman has given the nation a new Magna Carta through his 31-point reform outline. “We will move forward with that goal. We will take part in the upcoming election and, Insha’Allah, by winning it, we will build a new Bangladesh.”

BNP Standing Committee Member Mirza Abbas also spoke at the event, accusing Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami of conspiring against the country’s independence and sovereignty.

He urged Jamaat to stop all conspiracies to delay the election and the restoration of democracy.

“Otherwise, BNP leaders and activists will resist them on the streets,” Abbas warned.

Later, thousands of leaders and workers of BNP’s Dhaka South and North units took out a massive rally in front of the party’s Nayapaltan central office on the occasion of National Revolution and Solidarity Day, commemorating the “civil-military uprising” of November 7, 1975.

The rally, which began around 4pm, ended at the Sonargaon Hotel intersection after parading through Shantinagar, Malibagh, Mouchak, Moghbazar and Bangla Motor.

Carrying portraits and posters of BNP founder Ziaur Rahman, Chairperson Khaleda Zia and Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman, participants waved the party’s flags and the ‘sheaf of paddy’, its election symbol.