Election should be held after finishing reforms quickly, BNP tells Guterres

The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) informed the United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres that the party was the first to speak about reforms.

BNP also told the UN chief that the national election should be held after carrying out electoral reforms as soon as possible.

BNP secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir told this to the journalists after a meeting with the UN secretary general at the Hotel InterContinental in Dhaka on Saturday.

Replying to queries on the conversation with the UN chief, the BNP secretary general said, “A roundtable was organised by the UN where chiefs of the reform commissions were present. At the event, the UN chief was mainly informed about the ongoing discussions on reforms.”

Mirza Fakhrul Islam said, “We have informed the UN chief about the issues that we have been saying this long. Reform must happen. We have talked about reform previously and that reform must be carried out as soon as possible. We have said that electoral reforms should be completed speedily and then elections should be held quickly. After that, the remaining issues can be completed by parliament. Reform is a continuous process. We have spoken about these issues.”

Replying to a query on the UN chief’s response to the BNP’s issues, Mirza Fakhrul said António Guterres made no comment.

Replying to another query whether there was any discussion on timeframe for election, Mirza Fakhrul said, “We have talked to the reform commission and we are in touch with them. We gave everything that they wanted. We are already holding a meeting with them. So, why would we give a timeframe to the UN chief?”

BNP standing committee member Salahuddin Ahmed also joined the meeting.

Replying to a question on election, Salahuddin Ahmed said, “The UN said it is an internal issue of Bangladesh and you sit together and fix what reforms you will carry out. The UN chief expected a strong democratic government would be in power in Bangladesh, and the next election will set a precedent in the world.”