Elections would be held after minimum reforms, Mirza Fakhrul hopes

Bangladesh Nationalist Party secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir hoped the national election would be held as soon as possible after completing the minimum reform.

He said, “We will expect a minimum consensus will be reached on this reform very soon, and the national election will be held very soon based on this. This is our expectation.”

Mirza Fakhrul made this remark after emerging from the meeting of the National Consensus Commission at the Foreign Service Academy in Dhaka on Saturday. Led by Chief Adviser to the interim government Professor Muhammad Yunus , the meeting began a little after 3:00 pm. About 100 leaders of 26 parties and coalitions participated in the event.

Speaking to journalists, the BNP secretary general said they have reiterated their stance on national elections during the meeting. “We have said very clearly that national election must be held first and then local government elections.”

Mirza Fakhrul said the chief adviser held the first meeting of the National Consensus Commission with the political parties where he spoke of the necessity of reforms and called the political parties to hold talks and dialogues on the reports of various reform commissions. Efforts will be made to reach a consensus and that is the main issue. Since this was the primary discussion, various political parties talked about different issues, the BNP leader added.

Mirza Fakhrul further said the first meeting was mainly introducing meeting where various political parties placed their opinions, but no effective and constructive discussions have been held so far.