3 advisers working for one party, misleading chief adviser: Jamaat leader Taher
Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami naib-e-ameer Syed Abdullah Mohammad Taher has alleged that three advisers of the interim government are working on behalf of a particular political party.
“Let me state very clearly: three advisers are misleading the chief adviser in various ways, supplying him with incorrect information and manipulating him. By doing so, they are covertly attempting to steer the government towards a situation where a free and fair election cannot take place,” he said.
Taher on Friday morning made these remarks at a joint press conference of the eight-party alliance currently engaged in the movement.
The event was held at the Al-Falah Auditorium adjacent to Jamaat’s central office in Moghbazar, Dhaka.
The Jamaat leader was expressing his reaction to the chief adviser’s address to the nation delivered on Thursday.
If voter turnout in the referendum remains low due to lack of public focus, he argued, “those who oppose the reforms will claim that low turnout indicates the people did not want the referendum.” They would then use this pretext to withdraw from the reform process.
Criticising one particular political party, Syed Abdullah Mohammad Taher said that if the national election and the referendum are held on the same day, the parliamentary polls would naturally draw greater attention, while the referendum would receive less significance.
If voter turnout in the referendum remains low due to lack of public focus, he argued, “those who oppose the reforms will claim that low turnout indicates the people did not want the referendum.” They would then use this pretext to withdraw from the reform process.
Describing this as the “trap” of that political party, the Jamaat leader further said that the government had, whether inadvertently, deliberately, or through being misled, fallen into that trap, thereby rendering the reform process almost insignificant.
He also alleged that the government had previously demonstrated its loyalty or weakness towards that party on several occasions. This, he said, began with the announcement of the election date being made in London. Subsequently, the election commission’s roadmap was declared without holding discussions with other political parties.
The press conference was attended by Jamaat’s assistant secretary general Abdul Halim; Sheikh Fazle Bari Masud, joint secretary general of Islami Andolan Bangladesh; Yusuf Ashraf, senior naib-e-ameer of Bangladesh Khelafat Majlis; Musa Bin Izhar, secretary general of Nezam-e-Islam Party; Rashid Pradhan, spokesperson of JAGPA (Jatiya Ganatatrik Party); and Kazi Nizamul Haque, secretary general of the Bangladesh Development Party, among others.
Jamaat and seven like-minded political parties have been conducting a joint movement with five-point demands. Those include: issuing a constitutional order to implement the July National Charter, holding the referendum within November, and ensuring a level playing field for all political actors in the election.
The eight parties in this alliance are: Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, Islami Andolan Bangladesh, Bangladesh Khelafat Majlis, Khelafat Majlis, Nezam-e-Islam Party, Bangladesh Khelafat Andolan, Bangladesh Development Party, and Jatiya Ganatantrik Party (NDP).