Resign and hand over power to election-time government: AB Party
Amar Bangladesh Party or AB Party held a protest meeting at Bijoy 71 square in the capital this afternoon followed by a street rally demanding for the regime to quit and hand over power to an interim election-time government immediately.
Joint convener of the party and an advocate at the Supreme Court, Tajul Islam presided over the meeting where member secretary Mojibur Rahman Monju and joint member secretary Asaduzzaman Fuaad were present among others, stated a press release.
Mojibur Rahman Monju said, “Our anti-government movement, declared last December, was based on a two-point demand. The first one is a free, fair, credible election under a non-partisan election-time government, if necessary under the supervision of UN and/or other development partners and the second is rebuilding the state institutions for better serving the people.”
AB Party would be raising similar concerns with the visiting European Union delegation this Saturday afternoon. People have been tired of the deteriorating law and order situations for the last 15 years while the politically motivated extra-judicial killing creates an atmosphere of fear and the unprecedented price hike affects the daily life and livelihood of the lower and working class people. Mass-uprising would eventually topple the regime, he warned.
Asaduzzaman Fuaad said that the whole country had a unanimous ‘political settlement’ in 1996 on how to conduct an election under neutral caretaker government which was arbitrarily repealed in June 2011 by this regime using a Supreme Court order as a false and fraudulent pretext.
Publishing written judgment after 15 months following the retirement of the then chief justice was a pure contradiction to the original order and a betrayal with the nation. The regime also failed to listen to the recommendation made by the special parliamentary committee on not overturning the thirteenth amendment, he added.
Tajul Islam in his speech said, “Our history is a witness that no election would be free, fair and credible unless it is held under a caretaker government which AB Party supports. Furthermore, we do not believe that the change of government would be able to bring any meaningful change without overhauling the state institutions to suit the need and time.”
“It’s sad to see that the country is losing its sense of direction, after 52 years of independence, particularly in the context of Indo-Pacific regional security. For the first time in our history, the country was sanctioned twice by the US government, both under this authoritarian regime due to gross human rights violations,” he added.