Only parties born after 5 August don't want election: Amir Khasru

BNP standing committee member Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury, while demanding that the election be held within December this year, said that only the parties born after 5 August do not want the election.

Amir Khasru was speaking at a discussion arranged on the occasion of the 44th death anniversary of the late president and the party's founder Ziaur Rahman. The programme was arranged by Zia Parishad on Saturday morning at the National Press Club auditorium.

How else will the people give the message for a fair election asked Amir Khasru, adding that the election must be held within December. Investors within the country and outside ask, when will the election be held? Others too are waiting for a decision. Everyone is asking, when will the election be held?

It is not only one party but at least 52 other parties that have been demanding elections by December, Amir Khasru said.

He said, "If anyone says only one party wants election within December, is that the truth? Was this comment aimed at us (BNP)? What does this mean?"

The BNP leader went on to say, "Only a handful of parties, around four or five, do not want the election by December. I do not want to say anything about their support, the people will understand well. They are not even registered parties as yet. They have no connection with the people of Bangladesh."

Amir Khasru said that after 1/11 a similar King's Party had been formed as a block to democratic transition. He said, "Are we proceeding in that direction? It is only the parties born after 5 August that don't want the election."

This BNP standing committee member said that the interim government had no contact with the people and that is  why they are doing as they please. They will do more and there will be more damage. This cannot continue.

Amir Khasru said, there is only one way out -- an elected parliament committed and accountable to the people. He called upon all to unanimously demand that the interim government pave the way to a peaceful transition to democracy.

A leader at a policymaking level in BNP spoke out, saying there had been a significant change after Sheikh Hasina fled. The politicians and political parties who do not understand this, have no future in Bangladesh.

Appealing to the leaders and activists of the party, Amir Khasru said that if BNP goes to power, there should be no repetition of the fascist regime. He said that if BNP goes to power, it should uphold that struggle it carried out as the opposition, against autocracy and fascism.

Referring to the fact that the late president Ziaur Rahman involved the people in every state activity, Amir Khasru told the leaders and activists, "The people of the country, the new generation, want to see the future. We have to inspire them with dreams and demonstrate how to realise the dreams. We must earn the trust of the people."

The discussion meeting was presided over by Zia Parishad vice chairman Md Shafiqul Islam. Among others, BNP chairperson’s advisor Syed Moazzem Hossain Alal and the chairperson’s advisor and editor of Jugantor Abdul Hai Sikdar also spoke at the event.