Pro-ruling party officials given charges in Dhaka city polls: Fakhrul

BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir today alleged that the “pro-ruling party officials have been given charges” to conduct the Dhaka north and south city corporation elections slated for January 30.

“We know about the background of those who have been given the election duties and who are engaged in lobbying with respective ministries to get charge of running the elections,” Fakhrul made the allegation while addressing a programme at party Chairperson Khaleda Zia’s Gulshan office in Dhaka 16 days left for the election.

About the use of Electronic Voting Machine (EVMs) in the election, Fakhrul reiterating his party’s stance saying that people’s expectation will not be projected if the elections to the Dhaka city corporations are held using the electronic device.

“The people who don’t have moralities have made the machine (EVMs) to manipulate the election results,” the BNP leader alleged.

Referring to the yesterday’s by-elections in Chattogram-8 (Boalkhali-Chandgaon) constituency, Fakhrul said voters were barred on their way to the polling centres.

“Who will bid the ruling party goons if they carry out acts of terrorism in the election,” Fakhrul said.

Blaming the government for snatching people’s rights to franchise independently, Fakhrul said Bangladesh is heading towards a dysfunctional state.

The government is carrying out a “steamroller on people” in a planned way but it does not feel a little repentance, Fakhrul said.

“Dictator or autocratic rule does not feel repentance,” Fakhrul said this citing several instances of the government’s acts of repression and oppression and called upon people to wake up against the atrocities.

Claiming that the incidents like killing, rape and abduction have become a regular phenomenon, Fakhrul said, “There is no space to speak as the government has established a reign of terror.”

Fakhrul was distributing scholarship of behalf of the party among the children of those fathers have been made the victim of “enforced disappearance”.