Bangladesh Nationalist Party acting chairperson Tarique Rahman on Saturday said that the delay in holding elections would pave ways for hatching more conspiracies.
“The more the election is delayed, it will lead to hatch more conspiracies. So, there is no alternative to immediate elections in establishing the rights of the people,” he said while virtually addressing the council session of the Chuadanga district unit BNP.
“The autocrat [Awami League] has been ousted by a mass uprising. Yet, they are plotting conspiracies with their local and foreign allies,” he said.
Tarique said an election is necessary to return power to people and establish a government with true public representatives.
“Holding the election is the prime responsibility of the interim government,” he asserted. The BNP leader also said only genuine representatives, elected by people, can initiate reforms and implement them effectively.
He said many people are now talking about state reforms. But it was the BNP which presented its reform proposals and the 31-point reform outline when no one else was thinking about it, eh said.
Urging party leaders and activists to act responsibly and with integrity, he warned that failure to meet public expectations could undermine trust in their (BNP) leadership.
He also cautioned his party colleagues that they must navigate a difficult path ahead to overcome the challenges of the upcoming national election.
“The people of the country may give you the responsibility of governing, but you must prepare yourselves accordingly. To assume responsibility, you must first demonstrate a responsible role and make yourselves qualified to do so,” the BNP leader said.
He said the BNP leaders and workers are choosing the qualified leadership to lead the party’s Chuadanga unit through the council session.
The same way, Tarique said, BNP leaders and activists at all levels must play a responsible role and understand the expectations of the people of their respective areas as soldiers of Shaheed Zia and Khaleda Zia.
“You must speak, behave and present yourselves in line with the expectations of people. If you can play this responsible role, the people of Bangladesh will entrust you with responsibility (for running the country). Otherwise, they’ll think twice before doing so," he told his party colleagues.
After the fall of the autocratic regime of the Awami League, the BNP leader said that people now despise the party for what it has done to the country and its people over the past 15 years.
“But this does not mean that everything is now smooth. The road ahead is fraught with many dangers. The election I am talking about will be full of challenges, and if you want to overcome them, you will have to navigate many difficult obstacles,” he said.
Tarique said BNP leaders and activists must remember that the people of the entire country are observing them.
“You must understand the weight of the responsibility on your shoulders and know what to do and what not to do. If you grasp this, the people of the country will gladly empower you to lead the country.”
“Let us pledge that from this moment onwards, our actions every day will align with the expectations of the people of Bangladesh, and we will prepare ourselves to implement the 31-point outline we have presented to the nation,” he added.
