No election without caretaker govt

Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, the secretary general of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), today reiterated that there will be no election in the country without a caretaker government and alleged that the government is planning to hold another "farcical "election using Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs).

Mirza Fakhrul, while addressing a rally in Cumilla, alleged that the government has started filing "false and fabricated" cases and raiding the houses of the BNP men to foil the planned December 10 rally in Dhaka.

Referring to the recent BNP rallies in divisional cities as successful, he said these oppressive techniques can't stop the rally.

In contrast, he said, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday's rally in Jashore was held with the help of state machinery.

"She sought vote for boat. People of the country started singing the song of Abbas Uddin -- 'If I knew early, I would not ride on your broken boat'," he quipped claiming people don't want the unelected government anymore.

He also alleged that the government has destroyed all the glorious achievements of the country in a planned way.

Portraying a gloomy picture of the country's economy, the BNP leader said that people are getting poorer, but the ruling party men are getting richer.

At the rally, BNP leader Khandakar Mosharraf Hossain said that the government has destroyed the country's economy through looting and siphoning off money from the country.

He claimed the poverty level rose from 20 percent to 40 percent during the tenure of the incumbent government. Poor governance and corruption have turned the middle class into the poor and the poor poorer, he claimed.

The government has pushed the country to the verge of collapse just to stay in the office.

He said democracy killers can't bring back democracy and the destroyer of the economy can't repair it.

"People do not want to see the government anymore," he claimed hoping people will join BNP's movement to oust the government in December when announced.

Mirza Abbas, standing committee member of the party, alleged that a few thousand of party leaders and activists were killed since the ruling party assumed office.

"We (people) are ready to reply to all the conspiracies hatched by the government. People have awakened and are prepared," he said thanking the audience for attending the rally defying scorching heat and various obstacles.

Regarding the much-talked-about famine that the country may face, Abbas said if it happens, the corrupt government can't tackle it.

"Awami League does not care about the people. That's why they talked about famine on the one hand but engaged in looting resources on the other," he said.