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Visa restriction or sanction can’t stop polls: Quader
STAFF CORRESPONDENT
Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader yesterday said the national election of Bangladesh cannot be stopped by sanction or visa restriction.
“We do not interfere in affairs of other countries and do not want interference of foreign countries in our election. We have an independent Election Commission,” said Quader.
The Awami League general secretary said this while addressing a peace rally held at Adarsha High School Ground at Mirpur-10 in the capital.
“In which country parliament gets dissolved before elections? Then why should we do that in Bangladesh? We have a constitution. We will continue as per the constitution. We will not run our country at anyone’s instruction,” said Quader.
“You can send people to monitor the election. The people of the country have trust in the electoral process. Don’t get confused by the BNP’s words about election,” he said, pointing towards foreign observers.
Quader, also the road transport and bridges minister, said many BNP leaders are secretly preparing for the elections in secret.
“The BNP will also participate in the next national elections. Many other parties will join too,” he said.
“No matter how much the BNP conspires, elections will be held in this country, ” Quader further said.
He also claimed that the BNP had appointed lobbyists to question the upcoming election as they know that they will lose if they contest it.
Our movement has now become people’s movement: Fakhrul
UNB, Dhaka
The government will not be able to hold on to power anymore as the people of the country have awakened, said BNP secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir yesterday.
He was speaking at a rally organised by the Sirajganj district unit of the party at Islamia College.
Demands for the removal of cases against Begum Khaleda Zia and other BNP leaders including Iqbal Hasan Mahamud Tuku were also raised from the rally.
Fakhrul began his speech by condemning what he claimed were false charges against BNP leaders as a means to stifle the opposition and send them to jail.
“There is no rule of law in our nation, which has left citizens feeling unsafe both within and outside their homes,” added Alamgir, underscoring the need for change.
“That’s why our movement to oust the government has become the movement of the people,” he added.
Meanwhile, BNP senior leader Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain at a programme yesterday said Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina tried to hide the reality by telling the international community that Bangladesh’s economy has a dignified position now.
“The truth can never be suppressed for long with hollow words. As we know the economy of Bangladesh, the whole world also knows it,” he said
Speaking at a discussion, the BNP leader said the government is “begging” foreign loans from different countries and international lending agencies to run the country while import is being halted for lack of dollars.