The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) has demanded formation of a new Election Commission (EC) in consultation with the opposition.
"An election under a non-partisan caretaker government is the most important issue for us. The BNP would not take part in any election without such a government," party's acting secretary-general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said at a discussion on Saturday.
He also said the new poll panel will have to be formed "after consensus through discussion with the opposition".
Alamgir took the opportunity to also criticise the appointment of Awami League leaders as administrators to 61 district councils. He said the move has similarities with appointment of governors in 1975.
The government appointed the Zila Parishad administrators after getting the go-ahead from prime minister Sheikh Hasina on Thursday.
SMELLS OF EARLY '70S?
"It's like the BKSAL system," the BNP leader said. "The Awami League conducted rampant loot after the independence, and the one-party BKSAL system was launched to tackle the situation. They tried to conceal their failure."
Country's founding president Sheikh Mujibur Rahman formed the Bangladesh Krishak Sramik Awami League—BKSAL in short -- in June 1975, banning all other parties, through the fourth amendment to the Constitution. It was seen as a desperate move to cleanse the then chaotic political system.
Alamgir reiterated that the government under Sheikh Hasina has taken up "secret killings" to stifle the opposition's voice -- another move that had reared its ugly head first in the initial years after independence, he alleged.
"Rakkhibahini and other agencies picked up people, killed them and dumped the bodies in water between 1972 and 1975," the BNP leader alleged. "Now miscreants who identify themselves as law enforcers are abducting people.
"The bodies are recovered from rivers or canals in Gazipur or Ashulia. The police, though, say they know nothing of it."
Alamgir urged supporters of the party to be united in making their way out of the present impasse.
"An election under a non-partisan caretaker government is the most important issue for us. The BNP would not take part in any election without such a government," party's acting secretary-general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said at a discussion on Saturday.
He also said the new poll panel will have to be formed "after consensus through discussion with the opposition".
Alamgir took the opportunity to also criticise the appointment of Awami League leaders as administrators to 61 district councils. He said the move has similarities with appointment of governors in 1975.
The government appointed the Zila Parishad administrators after getting the go-ahead from prime minister Sheikh Hasina on Thursday.
SMELLS OF EARLY '70S?
"It's like the BKSAL system," the BNP leader said. "The Awami League conducted rampant loot after the independence, and the one-party BKSAL system was launched to tackle the situation. They tried to conceal their failure."
Country's founding president Sheikh Mujibur Rahman formed the Bangladesh Krishak Sramik Awami League—BKSAL in short -- in June 1975, banning all other parties, through the fourth amendment to the Constitution. It was seen as a desperate move to cleanse the then chaotic political system.
Alamgir reiterated that the government under Sheikh Hasina has taken up "secret killings" to stifle the opposition's voice -- another move that had reared its ugly head first in the initial years after independence, he alleged.
"Rakkhibahini and other agencies picked up people, killed them and dumped the bodies in water between 1972 and 1975," the BNP leader alleged. "Now miscreants who identify themselves as law enforcers are abducting people.
"The bodies are recovered from rivers or canals in Gazipur or Ashulia. The police, though, say they know nothing of it."
Alamgir urged supporters of the party to be united in making their way out of the present impasse.
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