BNP to demand parliamentary elections by mid-2025

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The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) is planning to demand organising the national elections in the middle of this year.

The party’s high command gave an opinion in this regard during an emergency meeting of the standing committee on Monday evening.

The meeting was held at the party chairperson’s Gulshan political office in Dhaka.

BNP acting chairman Tarique Rahman presided over the meeting virtually from London.

The meeting sources said the issues of the next election and other political matters came up in the discussion.

BNP leaders observed that thinking of holding local government elections before the parliamentary elections is just a waste of time, the meeting source said.

The source further said they discussed that the interim government should organise the national elections in the middle of this year according to the people’s wishes and leave the matter of local government poll for the next elected government.

Sources said that BNP leaders will bring the demand of holding elections ahead of the schedule of the interim government through meetings and seminars.

The meeting expressed concern over the hike of VAT (value added tax), tax and duty on more than a hundred goods and services in the middle of the fiscal year.

BNP secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir is likely to address a press conference to inform the people about the decisions of the meeting.

The press conference will be held at the BNP chairperson’s political office in Gulshan Tuesday afternoon.

The meeting also expressed satisfaction over the continuous improvement of Begum Khaleda Zia’s health condition.

Standing committee members Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain, Barrister Zamir Uddin Sircar, Abdul Moyeen Khan, Nazrul Islam Khan, Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir (secretary general), Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury, Salauddin Ahmed, Begum Selima Rahman, Hafiz Uddin Ahmed were present in the meeting.

Standing committee member Mirza Abbas and AZM Zahid Hossain joined the meeting virtually from London.