The BNP says release of jailed Chairperson Khaleda Zia is their number one priority and no negotiations or talks can happen before that.
A three-time prime minister, Khaleda has been sentenced to five years in jail on charges of misappropriating foreign funds meant for the Zia Orphanage Trust.
The BNP describes the charges brought by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) as a politically motivated attempt to shut its party chief out of the upcoming national election.
“Let me make it very clear; BNP’s number one demand and condition is Khaleda Zia’s release, then anything else. No talks or discussions on any other issue before that,” Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said on Friday (Apr 6).
His statement came while addressing a discussion organised by its ally the Jatiya Ganatantrik Party, a member of 20-party coalition led by the BNP.
Claiming the Awami League as ‘morally weak’, Mirza Fakhrul blamed the ruling party for attempts to create rift within the BNP.
“They run propaganda on the social media to confuse the people. But the lesson of history is, propagandas have always failed,” he said.
On fielding candidates in the upcoming polls for the Gazipur and Khulna city corporations, the senior leader said that the BNP always had believed in democracy and elections.
He, however, added: “But a free, fair and credible election in this country is tough unless basic reforms of the Election Commission. But we have always maintained the policy to take part in local government polls.”
The ACC has totally failed to curb corruption and is now pursuing what he described as ‘false and fabricated’ charges.
“The chairperson has been jailed on a false charge while they have opened probe on other BNP leaders over financial transactions.”
The ACC has launched an investigation into allegations of ‘dubious’ bank transactions of over Tk 1 billion against eight senior leaders, including several members of its policymaking National Standing Committee.
According to the BNP leader, the government’s inefficient foreign policies caused Bangladesh finding itself in a fix over the Rohingya crisis.
“This is alarming. The prime minister herself has said that there has been no progress. That’s the achievement of our foreign policy and foreign minister!”
Referring to a recent media report on allowing nearly 200 factories near the Sundarbans, Mirza Fakhrul came down hard on the government saying that the mangrove forest, the largest in the world, shields Bangladesh from natural calamities while “the government is destroying it.”