Workers Party threatens movement
Workers' Party of Bangladesh (WPB) yesterday threatened to forge movement along with other like-minded parties to force the government to implement their 11-point charter of demands including lifting of the state of emergency immediately for making the upcoming parliamentary election free, fair and credible.
The demands also include lifting of all bans on people's democratic rights including political and trade union activities, halting of all direct and indirect pressure on mass media ensuring press freedom, holding of parliamentary election first and cancellation of delimitation of electoral constituencies.
“If the government does not meet our demands, there will be no alternative but to go for movements and for this we will forge unity with other like-minded political parties,” said party President Rashed Khan Menon while speaking at a news conference at its central office in the capital.
Holding the chief adviser (CA) responsible for taking the country into a confrontational path through setting a set of conditions for the upcoming dialogue between the caretaker government and the political parties, he observed that there is uncertainty about the outcome of the dialogue.
“But we still hope that it is possible to reach a consensus through dialogue,” said Menon, a key-leader in AL-led 14-party combine.
He also pointed out that the dialogue is going to be held at a time when the mass media is facing restriction.
In a written statement, party General Secretary Bimal Biswas said they will collect mass signatures from May 23 to June 6 across the country and submit those to the government through district and upazila administrations to press home their demands.
He said they have already directed their all units across the country to unite the people to press home their demands.
Whatever the CA had told about relaxing the state of emergency ahead of the national poll, finally there will be government's control over the holding of the election, and that election could never be free and fair, he added.
Bimal termed the CA's initiative to formulate a national charter irrational and motivated.
Party leaders Haider Akbar Khan Rano, Fazle Hossain Badsha, Qamrul Ahsan, Nurul Hasan, Nur Ahmed Bakul, Hazera Sultana and Mojammel Haque Tara were also present at the conference.
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