Dhaka, Feb 26 (IANS) Khalida Zia’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) on Wednesday issued a warning to the interim government under Mohammad Yunus and other political parties in Bangladesh not to tamper with the national elections. They claimed any tactics to postpone national elections in the guise of reforms would lead to intensified protest movements.
While speaking to Bangladesh’s leading daily Prothom Alo, BNP standing committee member Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury said, “The interim government has no scope to conduct any election other than the national election. A handful of people deciding something on their own is not how things work”.
The BNP is in opposition to holding local elections before the national elections. The party stated any move to hold local elections beforehand would create a nationwide atmosphere of conflict.
The BNP said that any attempt to prioritise local elections would face strong resistance and would be seen as a conspiracy move, reports Prothom Alo
Earlier BNP acting chairman Tarique Rahman criticised the interim government on its various policies and claimed that the public is beginning to question its governance.
He further stated any delay in the election raises the question of who stands to benefit.
Bangladesh’s leading newspaper, The Dhaka Tribune, quoted Tarique Rahman as saying: “Instability is evident in various sectors of the country. Since the interim government took over, we have observed that different officials within this government are making contradictory statements, which has led to unrest in several regions of the country.
Earlier, with the Election Commission of Bangladesh preparing to hold elections in December 2025, two former allies BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami were at loggerheads regarding local elections.
BNP, which emerged as the largest political party in Bangladesh after the fall of archrival Sheikh Hasina-led Awami League government prioritised national elections while Jamaat showed support for conducting local government elections first.
The rift between the two former allies seemingly grew after the dates for the national polls were made public.
–IANS
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