Reza Mahmud :
The BNP has planned to wage a tough agitation to compel the government for reconstitution of the Election Commission.
“Though widespread irregularities clouded the Tuesday’s Khulna City Corporation polls, and the Election Commission watched it from safe distance in love of the ruling party nominated mayor candidate,” said BNP’s Senior Joint-Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi. He said that this commission had proved that they lacked capability to hold a free, fair and inclusive national election.
BNP Secretary General said, “Though our party and the USA ambassador have urged the Election Commission to investigate the KCC polls irregularities, the commission has paid no heed as it is a subservient organisation of the government”.
He called the BNP leaders and activists to get preparations for waging a movement for the restoration of people’s voting and other rights and democracy.
Party sources said, the party has decided to go for agitation for reconstitution of the present EC.
The party high-command has given directives to the party’s grass roots to central leaders to get ready for such a movement after Ramzan.
When contacted, BNP Joint-Secretary General Syed Moazzem Hossain Alal said, “The Election Commission itself proved that they were working only to make the government happy. They have no headache to respect people’s rights.”
“In Khulna City Corporation polls, they openly favoured the ruling Awami League’s mayor candidate Talukder Abdul Khaleque. His cadres desperately rigged votes in most of the polling stations, but the EC pretended to be ignorant about BNP’s complaints about those incidents,” Alal said.
The BNP leader said, in these circumstances, there is no second option than reconstituting the EC.
BNP sources said, the party men have been caught in frustration failing to free its chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia from jail though it observed different programmes after her landing in jail in February 8.
Besides this, the party nominated mayor candidate suffered defeat in Tuesday’s Khulna City Corporation polls.
Though the senior leaders accused the government of rigging votes and resorting to widespread irregularities, the party’s grass roots level leaders and activists are considering those incidents as the party’s weakness and failures.
The party high- command has taken it as a bad symptom ahead of the next Parliament election.
In this circumstances, the party high command plans to start a new and dynamic phase of movements to reconstitute the EC as well to gear up the leaders and activists through the agitation progarmmes.
One of the senior leaders said, it is important for the party to dismantle this Election Commission to hold a free, fair and inclusive election.
It is also very necessary for the BNP to take its manpower to the street to organise different agitation programmes so that they can show their existence to the people which is very important, especially ahead of the national polls.
