BNP considers announcing programmes during ongoing talks as contradictory

The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) has dubbed the decision by several political parties to announce programmes demanding elections under the July Charter while discussions on its implementation are still underway with the National Consensus Commission as contradictory.

Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami and three other parties have recently announced a series of political programmes pressing for elections in February on the basis of the July Charter.

Responding to this, BNP Standing Committee member Salahuddin Ahmed told Prothom Alo that no decision has yet been made on how the July Charter will be implemented.

He further said discussions with the National Consensus Commission are still ongoing. In such a situation, announcing street programmes is somewhat contradictory.

However, of course, it is every party’s democratic right to declare programmes if they wish, the BNP senior leader added.

Jamaat-e-Islami and Islami Andolan Bangladesh demanded introducing the proportional representation (PR) system in the lower house of Parliament.

Asked about this, Salahuddin Ahmed said, “The issue of PR in the Jatiya Sangsad’s lower house has never been a subject of discussion in the Consensus Commission. Now, if any party wants to pursue this as a political strategy, they are free to do so. But to impose one party’s ideology or demand on others in the name of the people — that is questionable.”

Speaking on the demand to ban the Jatiya Party (JaPa) and the 14-party alliance, the BNP standing committee member stated, “From the very beginning, we have said we do not support banning political parties by administrative order. Previously, there was no law; now there is one. Any decision to ban a party should come through a judicial process. If there is an attempt to impose sweeping bans on political parties, people will judge how acceptable it is and whether there are ulterior political motives behind this.”

Salahuddin further told Prothom Alo, “We must see who this movement is aimed against. Is it against the interim government, the National Consensus Commission, or the BNP? We must also see, whether it is a tactic to obstruct the election?”

“Those who have announced the programmes have the right to do so. If they pursue political strategies through rallies, BNP will respond with political speeches in the field,” he stressed.