Stating that the country鈥檚 situation was being made complicated with various conditions and statements, Bangladesh Nationalist Party secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on Thursday voiced doubt over whether the restoration of democracy will be possible within a short time as desired by people.
鈥榃e have been fighting for 15 years. The main issue of our struggle was the restoration of democracy, but unfortunately we have not yet been able to achieve it,鈥� he told a discussion.
BNP organised the programme at the Supreme Court auditorium to mark the first death anniversary of the party鈥檚 vice-chairman and former attorney general AJ Mohammad Ali.
Mirza Fakhrul said that Bangladesh was going through an uncertain situation, as the country was then in a very fragile state with an interim government.
鈥榃e are still in an uncertain situation as to whether the restoration of democracy will be possible in the short term because every day new conditions, different statements, and arguments are given, making everything more complicated,鈥� Fakhrul said.
The BNP leader said that some people were talking about delaying the election for the completion of reforms and presenting various arguments.
He said that some people were making statements in such a way that it gave the impression that BNP was an anti-reform party and did not want reforms, whereas BNP first spoke about reforms in 2016 through the Vision-2030 and the 31-point reform outline in 2022.
鈥業 would like to make it clear that BNP surely wants to come to power. We engage in power politics with that objective. We have clearly stated in our constitution and declaration that we want to be elected by the people and come to power through the election to implement our manifesto,鈥� he said.
The BNP leader also said that their party sought the election with the goal of forming a government and parliament to work for the people and resolve their problems.
Fakhrul also questioned the government about what changes they have made to reinforce the economy and strengthen the banking sector. He also alleged that the government has failed to reduce the growing rate of inflation. Fakhrul pointed out that the academic atmosphere on university campuses was badly affected, with no discipline, while people continued to suffer in public hospitals due to a lack of efforts to improve services.
The BNP leader described AJ Mohammad Ali as a man of principle, with integrity and professional honesty, recalling his contributions to democracy and the judiciary.
He called upon lawyers to raise their voices for the restoration of democracy and work towards building a new democratic Bangladesh suitable for future generations.
Speaking at the programme, BNP standing committee member Salahuddin Ahmed said that if the party returned to power, it was committed to reforming the state structure and the constitution and to strengthen democracy and democratic institutions.
He said that 30-32 cohorts of the fascist Awami League regime, who were sitting in the High Court, had to be removed.
Fakhrul expressed his hope for the success of the interim government but cautioned that any decision made should not be detrimental to the nation or the people of Bangladesh.
