Rejecting the BNP’s demand for midterm election, Information Minister Dr Hasan Mahmud on Tuesday said the next general polls would be held in due time as per the constitution.
“There is no reason to hold the election before the due time . . . The parliamentary polls will be held after four and a half years later as per the constitution,” he said, speaking at a roundtable meeting at an auditorium of the Engineers Institution of Bangladesh in the capital.
Hashumonir Pathshala organized the meeting marking the Homecoming Day of Awami League President and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
State Minister of Information Dr Murad Hasan addressed the meeting as the special guest while the organization’s President Marufa Akter Popi was in the chair.
Jagannath University Vice-Chancellor Professor Dr Mizanur Rahman and the daily Samakal Associate Editor Ajoy Dasgupta, among others, addressed the meeting while Professor Junayed Halim delivered the welcome speech.
Hasan said BNP chief Begum Khaleda Zia is now in jail being convicted in a draft case. If she didn’t do corruption or take the money of the orphans, Begum Zia would not have gone to jail, he added.
The minister urged the BNP leaders to avoid their corrupt leaders and shun ill politics. “We want constructive criticisms. Please make useful criticisms,” he added.
Hasan, also the Publicity and Publication Secretary of the ruling Awami League, said once a food deficient country, Bangladesh is now a food exporting country though it is one of the most densely populated countries in the glove.
The minister said the country became one of the top five countries of the world in GDP growth. The country has emerged as a perfect example of development before the world community, he added.
The country has witnessed a considerable progress as the present government implemented many development programmes in the past 10 years, he said, adding Bangladesh has exceeded India and Pakistan in many key indicators.
Hasan said Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is not only the head of the government or the party president, she has now become an institution. “Democracy was reinstated in the country after the return of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina from abroad. She is now working hard to take the country to a new height,” he added.
Now the country is moving forward and it would turn into a middle income country within a few years, the minister said.
State Minister Murad Hasan said, “We will move ahead to turn the country into a developed nation under the dynamic leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. No one can resist us.”
He said some vested quarters had tried to distort the real history of Bangladesh after the killing of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. “Our leader and worthwhile daughter of Bangabandhu, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina returned home to revive democracy in the country,” Murad added.
