Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has ‘cancelled’ her visit to the United Nations to avoid facing questions from world leaders over the forthcoming national election in Bangladesh, claims the BNP.
BNP leaders also announced their resolve to toughen their ongoing agitation to press for a non-party, poll-time government from its rally in Dhaka.
Several news outlets had run reports on Monday, saying the Prime Minister was not going to attend the UN General Assembly this month. However, the government had issued no formal word on the matter.
Based on Monday’s reports, BNP Standing Committee Member Khandker Mosharraf Hossain said: “The Prime Minister has cancelled her tour since the UN chief would have asked her about organising an election with participation by all political parties.
“She does not have answers to questions she’d face from world leaders [over the polls],” he claimed at a rally organised on Tuesday to commemorate the release of party chief Khaleda Zia and her elder son BNP Senior Vice Chairman Tarique Rahman from jail during the time of the army-backed caretaker government.
Amid a standoff between the two leading political coalitions over the nature of the government to oversee the next polls, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called ruling Awami League chief Hasina and BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia on Aug 23 to broker talks.
He said he wanted to see a free and fair polls in which all parties took part.
Various quarters, including the EU, US, China, had also pushed for talks.
As per the Constitution, the forthcoming election will be organised between Oct 27 this year and Jan 24 next under the current government’s oversight.
The BNP and its allies have been agitating, demanding the restoration of the non-party, caretaker government provision which was scrapped through the 15th constitutional amendment.
Party’s spokesperson Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said: “The next election must be held under a non-party government otherwise we’ll make the government concede through tougher movements.” – bdnews24.com
