Awami League (AL) general secretary Syed Ashraful Islam yesterday urged the BNP to contest the next general elections to test its popularity. Replying to a question at party president Sheikh Hasina’s Dhanmondi political office, Syed Ashraful Islam, who is also the public administration minister, said that people would decide in the next general election whether the AL or the BNP are more popular.
“The political strategy adopted by the BNP chairperson, Khaleda Zia, was not part of the country’s democratic system,” he said. The AL leader called upon the BNP to return to the democratic system in order to strengthen the country’s democracy.
Syed Ashraful Islam was talking to reporters after attending a meeting of the party’s departmental secretaries for organising a mass reception for Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on September 26. The Prime Minister is currently in New York to attend the 71st session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA).
About the possibility of mid-term elections, the AL leader said, “According to the Constitution, it depends solely on the Prime Minister. If the Prime Minister wishes, she can dissolve Parliament anytime and call for an election.”
When asked about the BNP’s allegation that the government is suppressing its opponents in the name of curbing militants, Syed Ashraful Islam said the government is committed to rooting out terrorism and militancy from the country. Any BNP leader or activist involved in militant activities would not be spared, he added.
Meanwhile, the AL has decided to give a mass reception to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on September 26 by standing on both sides of the streets between the airport and Ganabhaban. The party will also celebrate Hasina’s 69th birthday on September 28.
AL joint general secretary Mahbubul Alam Hanif, organising secretaries AFM Bahauddin Nasim, BM Mozammel Haque, Abu Sayeed Al Mahmud Swapan, Khalid Mahmud Chowdhury, agriculture affairs secretary Abdur Razzak, law affairs secretary Abdul Matin Khasru and information and research secretary Afzal Hossain, among others, were present at the meeting.
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Editor : M. Shamsur Rahman
Published by the Editor on behalf of Independent Publications Limited at Media Printers, 446/H, Tejgaon I/A, Dhaka-1215.
Editorial, News & Commercial Offices : Beximco Media Complex, 149-150 Tejgaon I/A, Dhaka-1208, Bangladesh. GPO Box No. 934, Dhaka-1000.
Editor : M. Shamsur Rahman
Published by the Editor on behalf of Independent Publications Limited at Media Printers, 446/H, Tejgaon I/A, Dhaka-1215.
Editorial, News & Commercial Offices : Beximco Media Complex, 149-150 Tejgaon I/A, Dhaka-1208, Bangladesh. GPO Box No. 934, Dhaka-1000.