B'desh: Zia's party accuses interim govt of creating situation that could disrupt elections

Dhaka, Nov 7 (PTI) Former prime minister Khaleda Zia’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party on Friday accused Muhammad Yunus-led interim government of creating a situation that could disrupt the general elections.

Addressing a party rally in the national capital, BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir also said that the people of Bangladesh will not accept anything other than holding the election and the referendum on the July Charter on the same day in February next year.

"It is unfortunate for us that the interim government, which we fully supported, is now creating a situation that could disrupt the national election," he said.

The issue centred around a proposed referendum on the “July Charter” drafted by the Yunus-led National Consensus Commission after consultations with several parties, barring deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League and its allies.

  Despite initial reluctance, the BNP agreed to the referendum, but suggested doing it simultaneously with the elections. However, Jamaat and a few other Islamist parties are demanding that the referendum be held before the polls.

Law Adviser Asif Nazrul on Monday asked all political parties to reach a consensus within a week on the referendum on the July Charter, saying the government would take a unilateral decision if they failed to reach an agreement.

“What was the point of all the work done by the Consensus Commission so far?" Alamgir said.

  He also warned the interim government against any attempt to delay the elections.

"Let me say this very clearly - there are conspiracies surrounding the election. The election and the referendum must be held on the same day, and that election must take place in February 2026. Otherwise, the people of Bangladesh will never accept it," Alamgir said.

On Thursday, Jamaat-e-Islami’s General Secretary Syed Abdullah Mohammad Taher said that the referendum must be held ahead of the election.

“Fingers will be bent if necessary to achieve our demands,” he said, without naming anyone, though Jamaat last week asked BNP for talks on their differences.

  Jamaat was the key partner in the BNP-led four-party coalition government from 2001 to 2006.

  They have now turned against each other in the absence of the now disbanded Awami League of deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina.

   The National Consensus Commission, headed by Yunus, recently made public the charter containing 84 reform proposals, including changing the structure of the 1972 Constitution, discarding a series of BNP’s notes of dissent.

The student-led National Citizen Party (NCP), which emerged recently with Yunus’s blessings, on Friday announced that it would allow "no note of dissent" in the July Charter, apparently annoying the BNP.

The political parties, including BNP and Jamaat, signed the charter at a ceremony on October 17, but differences surfaced over its implementation process.

The NCP has said it will sign the charter only after its implementation is guaranteed under a legal arrangement, preferably by a “constitutional order” issued by Chief Adviser Yunus, not the President's Office. PTI AR ZH ZH