University elections never influenced national polls: Mirza Fakhrul
University (student union) elections have never had any influence on national elections, Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said on Friday.
He made the remarks in response to a question from journalists at his residence in Thakurgaon in the morning.
Referring to the success of Islami Chhatra Shibir in student union elections at universities, Mirza Fakhrul further said the issue requires in-depth research.
He noted that during the tenure of the previous “fascist” government, other student organisations were not allowed to operate properly on university campuses, particularly Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal, which, he said, was not even permitted to enter.
As a result, Chhatra Dal and other organisations were effectively sidelined and unable to carry out meaningful organisational activities in universities, he remarked.
He further emphasised, “I want to stress one more point: university (student union) elections have never influenced national elections. I hope that this time, too, there will be no such impact.”
Expressing dissatisfaction with the country’s law and order situation, the BNP secretary general said that although people across the country are waiting for elections, he is not satisfied with the prevailing circumstances.
Referring to the killings of political figures, he said, “Several leaders of our party, in particular, have been murdered. We have strongly condemned these incidents and expressed our outrage. However, we haven’t seen any effective measures taken by the government. We hope the government will act more responsibly and take active steps to prevent the recurrence of such incidents.”
Speaking regarding BNP acting chairman Tarique Rahman’s visit to Thakurgaon on 12 January, Mirza Fakhrul said that when Tarique Rahman returned to the country, millions of party leaders, activists and ordinary people gathered in Dhaka to welcome him.
“When he visits districts, it is only natural that local leaders and activists will feel even more energised,” he added.
Responding to a question about BNP leaders and activists campaigning on Facebook in favour of voting ‘No’ in the referendum, Mirza Fakhrul said, “You can see these things on Facebook yourselves. However, that is not the party’s position.”
“We ourselves had demanded that the referendum and the national parliamentary election be held on the same day, and that is exactly what has happened. The reforms that are being put to a referendum are reforms that we ourselves presented to the nation through the 31-point programme in 2016 and again in 2023. Reform is ingrained in our political ethos. It is a continuous process and will continue. I see no reason at all to say ‘No’ to it,” he stated.