Bangladesh Nationalist Party standing committee member Mirza Abbas on Friday said that the geographical integrity of Bangladesh could be at risk if a national election is not held by December this year.
He made the remark while speaking to reporters after paying tribute to BNP founder and former president Ziaur Rahman at his grave on the occasion of his 44th death anniversary.
Abbas said that if the government did not want to hold the election then the聽 responsibility for that would also lie with them, adding that the people would ensure that the election took place by December.
鈥業f the election is not held by December the geographical integrity of the country will not remain intact,鈥� he said.
Abbas criticised the remarks of chief adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus, who had stated at the 30th Nikkei Forum: Future of Asia at Imperial Hotel in Tokyo that not all political parties wanted elections in December 鈥� only one party did.
鈥榃e want to say that there is one person who does not want an election鈥� and that is Professor Yunus. He does not want an election,鈥� the BNP leader said.
Reaffirming the BNP鈥檚 position, Abbas said, 鈥楾he BNP has always demanded that elections be held by December, and even Professor Yunus himself had suggested December. Later, he shifted the proposed timeline to June 2026.鈥�
Abbas also criticised the interim government鈥檚 reform strategy, saying that foreign consultants had been brought in unnecessarily.
He commented that the current government had imported foreigners to carry out reforms and that the situation had now reached a point where they no longer wished to hold elections.
Mirza Abbas arrived at Zia鈥檚 grave at Sher-e-Bangla Nagar around 10:30am, accompanied by BNP standing committee members Abdul Moyeen Khan, Goyeshwar Chandra Roy, Salahuddin Ahmed, AZM Zahid Hossain, and other senior leaders.
They stood in silence for a minute to pay their respects to the slain leader, placed floral wreaths at his grave, and offered prayers for the soul of the late leader.
