BNP boycotted polls not getting guarantee of assuming power: PM Hasina

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Sunday said BNP always wants to go to power with the help of other forces instead of through the people's mandate.

"... whenever the election time arrives, they (BNP) look for some other forces that can put them in power," she said.

She said this while a British cross party parliamentary delegation led by Vice Chair of All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Bangladesh and Chair of APPG on Indo-British, Virendra Sharma, MP, paid a courtesy call on her at her official Ganabhaban residence in Dhaka.

This is the first parliamentary visit from the UK since general elections were held in Bangladesh on 7 January.

PM's speechwriter M Nazrul Islam briefed reporters after the meeting.

The Prime Minister said the BNP always wants to secure power in any means.

"If they don't get any guarantee that someone will bring them in power, they boycott the election," she said, referring to the January 7 elections and 2014 general elections.

The BNP even boycotted the 2018 polls on the election day after doing nomination business as it did not get the guarantee of going to power, she said.

"BNP is a terrorist party. It never assumed to power through a fair election," she said.

Referring to the 2008 general election, she said the election was free, fair and participatory and none raised any question about its fairness.

The BNP-led alliance got only 30 seats while Awami League bagged 233 seats, she said.

"It proves that BNP does not have any base among the mass people," she said.

Not participating in the last parliamentary election on January 7 was their choice, she said.

The premier said that BNP was formed in cantonment by a military dictator.

The person (Ziaur Rahman) had polluted the electoral system by holding yes/no vote and presidential election, she said.

She continued that undemocratic forces ruled Bangladesh for long 29 years.

"During that period, there was no democracy in the country. As a result, no development took place in the country," she said.

The Prime Minister said that BNP does not have any leadership to take the party forward, adding that BNP men are only getting dictates from London.

"As a result, the BNP did not take part in any election after 2008," she said.

Despite the arson terrorism and appeal to the people by the BNP to boycott the 2024 election, the people took part in the polls spontaneously and cast their votes.

"The turnout of the votes was 41.8 per cent as the people rejected BNP's appeal," she said.

The five-member parliamentary delegation includes Paul Scully, MP, former Conservative Minister for Tech and Digital Economy, Neil Coyle, MP, Member of UK House of Commons Select Committee on Foreign Affairs, Andrew Western, MP, Opposition Whip at the House of Commons and Dominic Moffitt, Senior Parliamentary Assistant at House of Commons.

The delegation which arrived in Dhaka on January 27 is scheduled to depart for London on 31 January.

PM's Private Industry and Investment Adviser Salman Fazlur Rahman, Ambassador-at-Large M Ziauddin and Prime Minister's Office Secretary M Salauddin were present.

Sheikh Hasina also called upon the international community to take measures to repatriate Rohingyas to their homeland Myanmar and ensure their dignified life there.

"The world should think about how the Rohingya crisis can be resolved so that they could return to their homeland and have a decent life there," she said.

Sheikh Hasina said they gave shelter to the Rohingyas after their mass exodus in face of inhuman torture in 2017.

The Myanmar has agreed to take back their nationals, but has yet to take any measure to this end despite the fact that six years have already passed, she said.

Mentioning that the global monetary assistance decreases since the Covid-19 pandemic and Russia-Ukraine war, she said, "So, Rohingyas are now becoming a huge burden for a small country like Bangladesh".

Sheikh Hasina said there were some 40,000 pregnant women among the forcibly displaced Myanmar nationals at the time of their mass exodus.

She said the government and the people of Bangladesh primarily gave them food and shelter.

"Despite six years have passed, Myanmar did nothing, which is tangible and practical, to take back their citizens, though, they earlier agreed to do so," she said.

As a result, the Myanmar nationals are leading a miserable life in camps in Bangladesh, she added.

"Even Rohingyas are now indulged in criminal acts that include drug, arms and human trafficking and internal conflicts that sometimes lead to bloodsheds," she also said.

The premier said they have arranged better accommodation facilities for Rohingyas in Bhashanchar Island.

"Some Rohingyas have already been rehabilitated in Bhashanchar. They are very well there as we have arranged food, medicare facilities, education and employment for them," she said.

She also said the Rohingyas are divided in some small groups.

"If one group wants to go to Bhashanchar, another group put obstacles," she added.

On January 30, the delegation will visit the Rohingya camps in Cox's Bazar in reaffirmation of their support to Bangladesh's generous hosting of the persecuted Rohingyas from Myanmar and resolution of the protracted Rohingya crisis.

The delegation, which arrived in Dhaka on 27 January, is scheduled to depart for London on 31 January.

PM's Private Industry and Investment Adviser Salman Fazlur Rahman, Ambassador-at-Large M Ziauddin, Prime Minister's Office (PMO) Secretary M Salauddin, were present.