Ruling party-backed syndicates responsible for price hike: Fakhrul

BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir today said that the business syndicates backed by the ruling party are solely responsible for the skyrocketing price hike of the daily essentials in the country.

“The price spiral of daily essentials will not come down if the syndication exists,” Fakhrul came up with the remarks while addressing a press conference at the party’s Nayapaltan central office in Dhaka this noon.

“If the syndicate is not broken, Trading Corporation of Bangladesh is not strengthened and the rampant extortion of the ruling party influential quarter in the transport sector is not stopped then the prices of daily essential will not come down,” he said.

The price of onion is Tk 220-230 per kilogramme and the price of rice has increased Tk 10-15 per kg while the price of flour has increased Tk 5-10 per kg,” he said.

Referring to the prime minister’s suggesting not to eat onion, Fakhrul said, “Will the government now ask people to stop eating rice? The price of oil has also increased. Will the government ask people to stop consuming oil?”

“It is not the government’s responsibility to make it fix what people will eat or not. It means the government has completely failed to control the market,” he said.

Fakhrul said that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said during the electioneering in 2008 election that if she voted to power rice will be sold at Tk 10 per kg and job will be given to every family but in the last year prices of everything increased “437 times”.

“It is a midnight government and thus it has no accountability to the people as they were not elected with people’s vote,” he said.

Fakhrul also demanded fresh election under a non-partisan interim government and said sufferings of people will increase further unless the election is held.

He said it would not be possible to come down the prices of daily essentials by making a statement as the “people responsible for the price hike belong to Awami League”.

When asked about the government move to increase the price of electricity, Fakhrul said, “If the electricity price is hiked, then we must announce programmes.”

Urging people to come forward to raise their voices against the “misdeeds” of the government, Fakhrul said price hike of daily essentials including onion and electricity not only will affect BNP but also the people of the country.