Reza Mahmud :
The BNP is hopeful that the international community, including the United Nations, would play a vital role for inclusive polls in Bangladesh.
Contacted, BNP Standing Committee Members Dr. Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain told The New Nation on Friday, “I think they might play a role in this regard.”
The party on Wednesday sent letters to the UN, the European Union and the commonwealth asking their assistance for participatory polls here.
Dr. Mosharraf, also a member of the party’s diplomatic affair body, said, “We have sent letters to the UN, EU and Commonwealth because those organizations uphold the policies of democracy and human rights. Here in Bangladesh the human rights and democracy is in a vulnerable situation. So, we seek their help for the restoration of those.”
BNP Vice-Chairman and a former diplomat Mir Mohammad Nasir Uddin told The New Nation, “Not only the UN, every organization who believes in democracy, should play role to restore
democracy here in Bangladesh.”
Leaders in different stages and activists at the grassroots level of the party are now expecting an active role from the diplomatic arena to conduct a free, fair and acceptable national election here. However, mid level leaders of the party said, there is no sign to stage huge movement to compel the government to step down and make a way clear for a polls time neutral government.
In these circumstances, we think the UN and our other development partners from abroad have a vital role to compel the government to hold inclusive polls.
Some senior leaders said a huge number of party men from different stages have been sued in numerous cases, including arson attack incidents in 2014 and 2015.
In this situation, it is not easy to organize strong movement bringing the party men to the streets as most of them are on run for those cases.
Besides, they alleged, the ruling Awami League was involved in propaganda campaign against the BNP that it is behind arson attack on innocent people in public transports during its previous movements.
To avoid such propaganda, the BNP is shunning the path of clashes. So, it is organising peaceful programmes after the party chief Khaleda Zia jailed in a graft case on February 8.
The party men said it is clear to all that the government would not be compelled with such ‘soft’ agitation programme to leave power for fair polls.
But we are on the streets with peaceful programme to meet our demands.
We are hopeful that the international communities, including our development partners, are observing the prevailing situation. They must take steps to avoid another one-sided poll, otherwise it will eventually bury democracy here.
The leaders also discussed the previous roles of diplomatic arenas, including the UN.
They said Oscar Farnandez Taranko, the then Deputy Secretary General of the UN (Political Affairs) had visited Bangladesh and sat several times with Awami League and the BNP to hold inclusive polls but failed.
The development partners, including US, UK, EU and influential middle-eastern countries, also sat repeatedly with the both party but that did not yield any positive result.
The AL government held polls without BNP’s participation in January 5, 2014.
But the BNP men think the situation has changed. The ruling party might not be able to hold one-sided polls again ignoring the development partners.
The BNP leaders cited the Senior AL leader and Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed’s recent call to US Ambassador Marcia Bernicat asking her to play a role to bring the BNP in next parliamentary polls.
He told Bernicat, “All of us want to have an inclusive polls. We want that all the political parties will participate in the election”.
Tofail said this on Thursday, when he was addressing the inaugural ceremony of the US trade show in the city.
The BNP is hopeful that the international community, including the United Nations, would play a vital role for inclusive polls in Bangladesh.
Contacted, BNP Standing Committee Members Dr. Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain told The New Nation on Friday, “I think they might play a role in this regard.”
The party on Wednesday sent letters to the UN, the European Union and the commonwealth asking their assistance for participatory polls here.
Dr. Mosharraf, also a member of the party’s diplomatic affair body, said, “We have sent letters to the UN, EU and Commonwealth because those organizations uphold the policies of democracy and human rights. Here in Bangladesh the human rights and democracy is in a vulnerable situation. So, we seek their help for the restoration of those.”
BNP Vice-Chairman and a former diplomat Mir Mohammad Nasir Uddin told The New Nation, “Not only the UN, every organization who believes in democracy, should play role to restore
democracy here in Bangladesh.”
Leaders in different stages and activists at the grassroots level of the party are now expecting an active role from the diplomatic arena to conduct a free, fair and acceptable national election here. However, mid level leaders of the party said, there is no sign to stage huge movement to compel the government to step down and make a way clear for a polls time neutral government.
In these circumstances, we think the UN and our other development partners from abroad have a vital role to compel the government to hold inclusive polls.
Some senior leaders said a huge number of party men from different stages have been sued in numerous cases, including arson attack incidents in 2014 and 2015.
In this situation, it is not easy to organize strong movement bringing the party men to the streets as most of them are on run for those cases.
Besides, they alleged, the ruling Awami League was involved in propaganda campaign against the BNP that it is behind arson attack on innocent people in public transports during its previous movements.
To avoid such propaganda, the BNP is shunning the path of clashes. So, it is organising peaceful programmes after the party chief Khaleda Zia jailed in a graft case on February 8.
The party men said it is clear to all that the government would not be compelled with such ‘soft’ agitation programme to leave power for fair polls.
But we are on the streets with peaceful programme to meet our demands.
We are hopeful that the international communities, including our development partners, are observing the prevailing situation. They must take steps to avoid another one-sided poll, otherwise it will eventually bury democracy here.
The leaders also discussed the previous roles of diplomatic arenas, including the UN.
They said Oscar Farnandez Taranko, the then Deputy Secretary General of the UN (Political Affairs) had visited Bangladesh and sat several times with Awami League and the BNP to hold inclusive polls but failed.
The development partners, including US, UK, EU and influential middle-eastern countries, also sat repeatedly with the both party but that did not yield any positive result.
The AL government held polls without BNP’s participation in January 5, 2014.
But the BNP men think the situation has changed. The ruling party might not be able to hold one-sided polls again ignoring the development partners.
The BNP leaders cited the Senior AL leader and Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed’s recent call to US Ambassador Marcia Bernicat asking her to play a role to bring the BNP in next parliamentary polls.
He told Bernicat, “All of us want to have an inclusive polls. We want that all the political parties will participate in the election”.
Tofail said this on Thursday, when he was addressing the inaugural ceremony of the US trade show in the city.
