Staff Correspondent

Awami League (AL) General Secretary Obaidul Quader said on Tuesday BNP is traditionally an undemocratic and conspiracy-based political party.

In a statement, he said the remark of BNP secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir that the incumbent government has no time is unconstitutional and treasonous.

"BNP is traditionally an undemocratic and intrigue-oriented political party. They always try to apply unconstitutional means to seize power through plots," said Quader, also the road transport and bridges minister.

He said neither Mirza Fakhrul nor BNP has the jurisdiction to determine the term or deadline of a government elected democratically.

The country's people voted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and gave her the responsibility of governing the state for a certain period as per the constitution, the AL general secretary said.

According to the provisions of the constitution, he said, the government can be changed through elections after its tenure.

Quader said BNP is now desperate to capture power and that is why it has hired a lobbyist firm abroad spending millions of dollars with a hope to gain the sympathy of its foreign masters.

They (BNP) stare at what their foreign masters say about the next general elections, he said.

Being continuously rejected by the country's people, the BNP has lost its faith in them, he added.

The AL general secretary blamed that with support of foreign masters, the BNP is fixing its political programmes. The party never took any policy for people's welfare and the people did not respond to their call, he added.
Noting that the talk of democracy does not suit BNP leaders, he said when BNP came to power, it destroyed the country's democracy by creating the worst example of vote rigging.

The country's people have not forgotten the misrules and corruption of the BNP, he said.

After assuming the state power in 2001, Quader said, BNP carried out oppression on minorities in a hellish manner and set a terrible instance of suppressing dissent in the country's history.

He said about 24,000 AL leaders and activists were killed across the country during the BNP-Jamaat regime and the people of Bangladesh do not want to go back to that dark time.

Hoping that the people of Bangladesh will again vote in favour of the Awami League to continue the pace of development and progress, the AL general secretary said the people have repeatedly considered Sheikh Hasina's leadership as safe for their development and prosperity.