BNP Standing Committee member Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury has stated that, although people’s desire for an election remains intense, one faction been trying to delay it, adding that people’s lives and the economy have stagnated due the election delay.
The BNP leader made these remarks at an event organised at the CRIB Auditorium in the capital on Sunday. The event was arranged to unveil the cover of a book titled “Directional Recommendations for Building a Developed Nation in the Future”.
The organiser is the book’s author, publisher, and Chairman of New Hope Global, Mohammad Foyez Uddin.
He said, “Because the election is not being held, everything is stuck. Currently, even investment for the election, business and commerce, and even people’s family decisions are suspended and stagnant in the country.
“The people want a national election. They have taken to the field out of a desire for the election. Yet, one faction is conspiring in various ways to postpone the election.”
Executive Editor of The Finance Today, Shaheen Abdul Bari, presided over the event.
Amir Khosru added, “People now want liberation through the election. And all decisions of the country’s people are now suspended. Everyone says, let the election take place first. Everything will happen only after the election. In this situation of the country, everything, from ordinary people to those involved in business-commerce, has become stagnant.”
He went on to say that he believes the faction trying to delay the election is essentially against democracy. He asked, “Are those who want to delay it, people in favour of democracy? Can they be trusted?”
Amir Khosru said, “They have formed the government in the spirit of the constitution. Bangladesh currently has a constitution. The interim government has been formed under this constitution; this constitution does not have an option for a referendum. Now, why should a referendum be held before the election?”
Khosru said that agreeing to holding a referendum on election day, which the constitution does not accept, shows how generous BNP has been by agreeing to the matter, in order to ensure a that “a tolerant situation remains in Bangladeshi politics, so that mutual respect exists in the country and chaos is not created.”
Amir Khosru mentioned that several teams of the BNP are working on how the future Bangladesh will function, so that the BNP can start making decisions from the very first day if it comes to power. So that there is no need to wait. The work of these BNP teams is already nearing completion.
Referring to the proposals in the National Consensus Commission discussions where consensus was not reached, he said, “Where there is a Note of Dissent, disagreement has been expressed. Expressing disagreement means consensus was not reached. Matters on which there was no consensus cannot go to a referendum either.”
He said, “There is no opportunity to go beyond what was agreed upon in the Consensus Commission discussions. But now, many demands on which consensus was not reached are also being raised.
