Oath taking of Oikyafront MPs
Zahid took oath under govt pressure, alleges Fakhrul
STAFF REPORTER, Dhaka
BNP secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Alamgir yesterday alleged that the government has mounted pressure on party leader Zahidur Rahman Zahid to take oath as a member of the 11th parliament in defiance of the party decision. We are sure of that there was government pressure behind Zahidur Rahmans oath-taking. However, were not worried about the matter, he said. Fakhrul was talking to reporters after placing a wreath at the mazar of party founder Ziaur Rahman. He was accompanied by a
number of leaders and activists of the BNPs woman front, Jatiyatabadi Mohila Dal. They went to the grave on the occasion of forming its full-pledged committee. Mohila Dal president Afroja Abbas, general secretary Sultana Ahmed, Jeba Khan and Helen Jerin Khan, among others. were present on the occasion.
It is undoubtedly a (case of) government pressure. A government not elected by the people has to use such undemocratic tactics to cling to power, he said.
Fakhrul made this allegation a day after Zahid, elected from the Thakurgaon-3 constituency, took oath as MP in defiance of the partys decision to not join Parliament.
The veteran BNP leader asserted that the partys decision to boycott parliament remained unchanged. He said the party would take organisational measures against those who go against its decision.
Asked if the government was trying to create rifts within the BNP, Fakhrul said: Its normal. This is not unusual in the politics of Bangladesh.
But such attempts will never succeed. The BNP will always come back stronger. It has the peoples backing, he added.
Asked about if other lawmakers-elect are willing to take oath, Fakhrul said: We do not know what they are thinking. They have not told us their thoughts yet. But the decision made earlier till stands. The decision is final and there is no doubt about this, he added.
He claimed that the BNP was a peoples party and would not suffer due any one persons individual decision. Claiming Zahids oath-taking was a blatant violation of the partys organisational decision, Fakhrul said his party would take tough steps against those defying it. Asked whether the BNP would send any letter to the Speaker or the Election Commission over the legitimacy of oath-taking by a BNP lawmaker-elect going against the partys decision, Fakhrul said the party standing committee would take a decision in this connection.
