Awami League General Secretary and Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader Monday urged Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) to get prepared for the upcoming general elections without making any excuse.
He made this call while speaking at a press conference at his secretariat office this morning.
Responding to a statement of BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir that attacks are being carried out to make the field free so that the oppositions cannot join the polls, Quader said such statement of Fakhrul is nothing but a ridiculous and shameless lie.
Even the BNP leaders are afraid of entering the field, while they sit at home calling a movement, he said, adding “We are repeatedly asking the BNP to join the next elections”.
The AL general secretary said the AL wants competitive polls as it does not want to score goals on an empty field.
“If the rivals are strong, the elections will also be competitive ones. The Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina government wants a good election in Bangladesh. The Awami League heartily wants a good election in the country too,” he said.
Quader said the elections are not far away and “it is up to you (BNP) whether you would join it with an alliance or come alone. You have to come to the elections – if you want any change the state power, there is no alternative to elections”.
Replying to the statements of other BNP leaders, he said BNP is suffering from anxiety seeing the popularity of AL President Sheikh Hasina.
He said the BNP leaders have already realised that it will be quite impossible for them to defeat the ruling party led by Sheikh Hasina.
Mentioning that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s public welfare-oriented politics has put the BNP’s political future in crisis, the AL general secretary said even though BNP leaders are repeatedly calling for unity, the country’s people are not paying heed to their calls and that is why their twinge is going up.
Claiming that the government is not pushing the BNP into violence, he said no ruling party wants to create any instability or anarchic situation in any country.
“The Sheikh Hasina government wants peace and comfort,” he added.
Issuing a warning to the BNP leaders, Quader said if the BNP wants to create any violence in the name of the movement, the government will do everything necessary to save the lives and properties of the people.
“There is still time to come to the path of elections shunning the path of hatching plot. You will be dealt with on the field of elections,” he said.
