Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami secretary general Professor Mia Golam Porwar on Thursday called for holding polls under the Proportional Representation system based on the July Charter, creating a level playing field before the national elections.
鈥榃e are ready to return to the negotiation table, but the election must be held under the PR system,鈥� he said.
He made the remarks at a protest rally and procession organised by the Dhaka North and South City units of Jamaat at the south gate of the National Mosque on the first day of its three-day programme.
He said that the government is under pressure and conspiracies are going on regarding the election. That is why we have taken to the streets; this is part of politics.
Golam Porwar said that if the people accepted it, you would also have to accept it. 鈥榊ou are afraid, because if this happens, it will not be possible to establish fascism.鈥�
He said that the July Charter did not fulfil public aspirations. 鈥業t must be given a legal basis. Reforms must be made, and through a referendum, legal and constitutional legitimacy has to be established. This must be done before the elections, and elections must be held on the basis of the July Charter.鈥�
He warned that if elections were not held under the July Charter, another fascist and another Sheikh Hasina would be born in the country that the people will not accept.
He also demanded justice for genocide perpetrators before the elections. 鈥楾here will be more protest marches. The people鈥檚 aspiration for transparent elections is being pursued from all sides. But one party is trying to obstruct the government. The national election must be held under the PR system and on the basis of the July Charter. Otherwise, it will go against the people鈥檚 aspirations.鈥�
Jamaat-e-Islami assistant secretary AHM Hamidur Rahman Azad said that their party wanted fair elections but the reforms that were promised for elections had not yet been made.
Stating that without a legal basis for the July Charter there is no foundation for reforms, he warned that if effective steps were not taken, the people would remain on the streets and would not return home until the demands were met.
Jamaat鈥檚 central assistant secretary general Maulana Rafiqul Islam Khan said that the current government was not a partisan government, but it was trying to side with one party. 鈥楾he people will not accept this. It will be resisted like fascism.鈥�
He further said that law and order had not improved in the country. At Jahangirnagar University, there was a conspiracy to sabotage the central student union and hall elections. 鈥榃hy did it take so long to count the votes? The 13th National Parliament election will be held in February, but the people of this country will not accept another Awami League鈥搒tyle election.鈥�
On September 15, the party had announced a three-day programme with a five-point demand at a press conference held at the Al Falah Auditorium near Jamaat鈥檚 central office.
The demands are holding the next national election based on the July National Charter, introducing the PR system in both houses of parliament in the next election, ensuring a level playing field for free, fair, and acceptable elections, securing visible justice for all atrocities, killings, and corruption committed by the fascist government and banning the activities of the autocrat鈥檚 ally Jatiya Party and the 14-party alliance.
On the same demands, Jamaat will hold protest processions in all divisional cities on Friday, and in all districts or upazilas on September 26.