Staff Reporter :
The BNP has expressed its fear that the forthcoming municipality polls would not be free and fair under the current Election Commission (EC) and the incumbent government.
The party termed the EC ‘incapable, submissive and spineless’.
BNP’s Spokesman Dr Asaduzzaman Ripon, addressing at a press conference at the party’s Nayapaltan central office in the city on Tuesday, said that the current EC would not be able to hold the upcoming polls in a free and fair manner.
“We have submitted several proposals to the EC about the municipal elections. But the commission is not paying proper heed to resolve the issues,” said Dr Ripon.
Citing the party’s demand for deferring the polls by 15 days, he said that if the commission had accepted the demand, more 50 lakh voters would have exercise their votes.
Expressing his party’s anger over the rejection of its demand, Dr Ripon said that the EC did it as it does not care about voters. He said the EC has succumbed to the government’s pressure of power and turned into a subservient and incapable institution.
The BNP leader also came down heavily on the government for its hostile behaviour ahead of the municipal polls. He alleged that the government is arresting selected candidates of the BNP and its allies even after the announcement of the polls schedule.
He said that police on Monday arrested Mymensingh’s Nandail municipal current mayor and BNP nominated candidate Azizul Islam. There is no reason behind his arrest. He has been arrested only for arranging a one-sided election, he added.
“We are in serious doubt whether the December 30 municipal polls would be free, fair and competitive ones, as the EC has turned a blind eye to the arrest of mayor candidates,” he said.
He also said that the EC is going to implement the government’s ‘blueprint’ through the municipal polls, as they did during the January 5 Parliamentary polls in 2014.
“The countrymen don’t want to see another January 5 like election. The government also should not try to hold such an election as it will further stigmatise the ruling party both at home and abroad,” the BNP spokesman observed.
He urged the EC to take initiative to stop arrest of BNP leaders and activists and release those who have already been arrested for the sake of a fair election.
