প্রকাশ: 29/01/2024
Prime Minister Sheikh
Hasina today said BNP always wants to go to power with the help of other forces
instead of through the people's mandate. "... whenever the election time
arrives, they (BNP) look for some other forces that can put them in
power," she said.
The premier said this
while a British cross party parliamentary delegation led by Vice Chair of All
Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Bangladesh and Chair of APPG on Indo-British,
Virendra Sharma, MP, paid a courtesy call on her at her official Ganabhaban
residence here.
PM's speechwriter M
Nazrul Islam briefed reporters after the meeting. The Prime Minister said the
BNP always wants to secure power in any means.
"If they don't get
any guarantee that someone will bring them in power, they boycott the
election," she said, referring to the January 7 elections and 2014 general
elections.
The BNP even boycotted
the 2018 polls on the election day after doing nomination business as it did
not get the guarantee of going to power, she said.
"BNP is a
terrorist party. It never assumed to power through a fair election," she
said.
Referring to the 2008
general election, she said the election was free, fair and participatory and
none raised any question about its fairness.
The BNP-led alliance
got only 30 seats while Awami League bagged 233 seats, she said.
"It proves that
BNP does not have any base among the mass people," she said.
Not participating in
the last parliamentary election on January 7 was their choice, she said.
The premier said that
BNP was formed in cantonment by a military dictator.
The person (Ziaur
Rahman) had polluted the electoral system by holding yes/no vote and presidential
election, she said.
She continued that
undemocratic forces ruled Bangladesh for long 29 years.
"During that
period, there was no democracy in the country. As a result, no development took
place in the country," she said.
The Prime Minister said
that BNP does not have any leadership to take the party forward, adding that
BNP men are only getting dictates from London.
"As a result, the
BNP did not take part in any election after 2008," she said.
Despite the arson
terrorism and appeal to the people by the BNP to boycott the 2024 election, the
people took part in the polls spontaneously and cast their votes.
"The turnout of
the votes was 41.8 percent as the people rejected BNP's appeal," she said.
The five-member
parliamentary delegation includes Paul Scully, MP, former Conservative Minister
for Tech and Digital Economy, Neil Coyle, MP, Member of UK House of Commons Select
Committee on Foreign Affairs, Andrew Western, MP, Opposition Whip at the House
of Commons and Dominic Moffitt, Senior Parliamentary Assistant at House of
Commons.
The delegation which
arrived in Dhaka on January 27 is scheduled to depart for London on 31 January.
PM's Private Industry
and Investment Adviser Salman Fazlur Rahman, Ambassador-at-Large M Ziauddin and
Prime Minister's Office Secretary M Salauddin were present.
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