Staff Reporter :
Reza Kibria, son of former Finance Minister and Awami League leader Shah AMS Kibria, wants to contest in the upcoming 11th National Election from Jatiya Oikyafront.
An economist, Reza Kibria, has already joined Gono Forum of Dr Kamal Hossain to contest the election from Habiganj-1 Constituency.
Gono Forum is a component of Jatiya Oikyafront.
He submitted his nomination forms to Dr Kamal Hossain’s Gono Forum on Friday. The parties of the opposition alliance have expressed their desire to run with the Sheaf of Paddy symbol of the BNP, the largest party in the alliance.
Responding to a query as to why he had left Awami League, Reza said that he did not agree with the policies taken by the AL government for ruling the country for the last 10 years.
The current political ideology of the ruling party does not match his thoughts and ideas, Reza said, adding the AL has not taken any initiative to carry out a proper investigation into the murder of his father.
“My father was involved in Awami League politics, but I have no connections to them. It has been 14 years since my father’s murder and the Awami League has failed to bring his killers to justice,” he said.
If he is chosen as the Jatiya Oikyafront nominee, Reza says that he will run with the Sheaf of Paddy symbol.
Like his father, Reza served the UNO. Though he was born in Jalalshap village in Nabiganj Upazila’s Debpara Union, Reza spent most of his youth abroad.
Shah AMS Kibria was elected a member of Parliament from Habiganj-3 constituency in 2001. The former finance minister was killed in a grenade attack during a public meeting in Habiganj on January 27, 2005.
Sylhet City Mayor Ariful Haque Chowhdury and Habiganj Municipal Mayor (Dismissed) GK Gaus are among the BNP leaders accused in the Kibria murder case. Ariful had to spend time in jail over the case, while Gaus was dismissed because of it.
Khaleda Zia’s Political Secretary Haris Chowdhury and former Khaleda Zia State Minister for Home Affairs Lutfozzaman Babar are also suspects in the case. After three rounds of investigations, police filed charges against 11 suspects on Dec 21, 2014. Two cases, one for murder and the other under the Explosives Act, are still in the trial phase.
Meanwhile, BNP leaders from Habiganj’s Nabiganj have expressed their embarrassment over the decision of Reza Kibria, the son of former Awami League Finance Minister Shah AMS Kibria, will run with the Jatiya Oikyafront ticket.
Nabiganj Municipal BNP President and Municipal Mayor Sabir Ahmed Chowdhury said, “It is very embarrassing for us that Reza Kibria has planned to join the JOF when BNP activists and leaders are accused as the perpetrators of his father’s murder.”
