People won’t be deceived thrice by participating polls under AL govt: Mirza Fakhrul

Stating that caretaker government is now the most live issue, BNP secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on Saturday said the people of Bangladesh will not be deceived thrice by participating in the next polls under the Awami League regime.

Speaking at a discussion, he also said Awami League is against the election under a non-party impartial government as the party knows very well that it will not get more than 10 percent votes in credible polls because of its widespread plundering and misdeeds.

“Awami League leaders and ministers are saying the caretaker government is now a dead issue. Why is it a dead issue? This is the most live issue now,” the BNP leader said.

He said the people of Bangladesh witnessed the parliamentary elections in 2014 and 2018. “They won’t go back to face that situation again. There’s no question of doing it.”

Bangladesh Hindu Bouddha Christian Oikya Parishad arranged the program at Dhaka Reporters’ Unity (DRU), marking the first death anniversary of the organization‍‍`s founding president and former BNP MP and state minister for water resources Advocate Gautam Chakraborty.

Fakhrul said their party took part in talks with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina before the 2018 election with the hope of creating an atmosphere for a neutral election through discussions, but they were betrayed.

“We have been cheated twice (in the 2014 and 2018 elections). We would like to clearly say that the people of the country won’t get cheated again for the third time,” he observed.

The BNP leader said the next election must be held under a non-party caretaker government as the current regime has completely destroyed the voting and election system in the country in a planned way.

Referring to Law Minister Anisul Huq’s comment in parliament that no one will be arrested during the next election as the administration will remain under the Election Commission, he said, “Who will believe these words? It is like the story of the cowboy on a tiger. We want to say clearly, no one will be misguided by these words of the current regime. Because you have never kept any promises that you made before the nation.”

Fakhrul urged the government to step down and dissolve parliament by handing over power to a non-party caretaker government, creating a scope for holding a credible election.