29 ex-MPs urge Hasina-led govt to step down

Twenty-nine members of the last parliament, mostly BNP leaders, yesterday urged the Sheikh Hasina-led government to resign and make way for a credible, inclusive national election.

In a joint statement, they said the ongoing crisis, which originated from the one-sided election of January 5 last year, could be resolved only through a credible election.

The signatories, including Moudud Ahmed, Jamir Uddin Sircar, Joynal Abedin Farook, Barkat Ullah Bulu of BNP, Andaleeve Rahman Partho of Bangladesh Jatiya Party, and Oli Ahmad of Liberal Democratic Party, said neither the incumbent parliament nor its activities was democratic.

They accused the government of using force to subdue the ongoing movement led by BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia. The oppression has resulted in unrest, hurting the education, economic and transport sectors, the statement said.

The ex-MPs observed that the government wanted to label the movement an act of terror to deny the political crisis; they were conducting petrol bomb attacks, sabotage, and anarchy by using state machineries, but shifting the blame onto the BNP-led 20-party alliance.

Besides, the government has imposed censorship on the presentation of news by issuing unwritten press advices as in the regime of military ruler HM Ershad, they claimed.