Abdul Moin Khan, a member of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) Standing Committee, has said that if elections are not held by December, there will be instability in the country and 'intense anger among the people.'
The BNP leader said this in an interview with the British news agency Reuters.
In the interview, Moin said that December is the consensus schedule. If the elections are held after that, the situation will become complicated. There will be intense anger among the people of Bangladesh.
The report said, “After the student-people's uprising, fascist Sheikh Hasina fled to New Delhi and took refuge and Nobel Peace Prize-winning economist Professor Dr. Muhammad Yunus came to lead the interim government last August. He recently said that the upcoming national elections could be held between December 2025 and June 2026.
Dr. Yunus is emphasizing reforms to make the next election the most free, fair and credible in Bangladesh's history. He said time is needed in this regard because the elections during Hasina's tenure have been labeled as rigged by the BNP and Western countries although Hasina has denied it. Earlier this month, former member of the advisory council and student leader Nahid Islam said that it would be difficult to hold elections this year as law and order have not been fully restored.
However, BNP policy-making member and former Science and Information Technology Minister Abdul Moin Khan said that his party wants elections within this year.
Referring to the interim government, he said, "We will try to convince them that the best way for them is to hold elections as soon as possible and resign with dignity."
Moin spoke to Reuters while in Washington for meetings with US representatives on Bangladesh. He said, “December is the consensus schedule. If the election is delayed, the situation will become complicated. There will be intense anger among the people of Bangladesh. This means instability may arise...time will say what happens.”
The report says that the Awami League has practically collapsed with Sheikh Hasina and her senior party leaders absconding. In this case, the BNP's main rival in the next election may be the National Citizens Party (NCP) led by Nahid Islam. Student leaders have expressed their determination to come out of the two old parties of Bangladesh and bring about a new change.
However, Moin Khan said that internal surveys of the BNP indicate that they will get a majority in the next election. And the party's acting chairman Tarique Rahman will return to Dhaka as soon as the election date is announced. In recent months, several cases filed against Tarique Rahman and Khaleda Zia in the past have been canceled by the courts. As a result, there is no longer any obstacle to Tarique Rahman's return to the country.
Bd-pratidin English/Lutful Hoque
