Staff Correspondent

Stressing the need for holding an acceptable national election immediately, BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on Friday said that ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina fled the country but the crisis is not over yet.

“All units within the administration must be urgently reformed to prepare the country for a credible election, as the crisis is not over despite Sheikh Hasina fleeing the country,” Fakhrul said while addressing a programme in Gazipur this afternoon.

Pointing finger at the incumbent administration, he said all false and politically motivated cases lodged against BNP leaders and activists across the country must be withdrawn unconditionally to create a congenial atmosphere for the national election.

While addressing the programme organised to mark the eighth death anniversary of BNP Standing Committee Member ASM Hannan Shah, Fakhrul also called for the immediate repatriation of his party’s Acting Chairman, Tarique Rahman, from London, after withdrawing all cases filed against him.

“We want to be very clear that we, the countrymen, believe in democracy. A parliamentary government must be formed through a free and fair election, and the government will then govern the country,” he said, drawing the attention of the interim government authorities.

Claiming that his party also seeks reforms, Fakhrul said, “We want to give the interim government a reasonable time for the election, but the sooner the election is held, the better it will be for the country.”

About the false and politically motivated cases lodged against his party men, Fakhrul said no conducive environment for elections can be created in the country unless these cases are withdrawn unconditionally.

Referring to the misdeeds of the Awami League government, he said around a thousand leaders and activists of BNP were victims of enforced disappearance in the last 17 years.

Besides, around 60 lakh BNP leaders, activists and supporters were implicated in baseless and politically motivated cases during the fascist rule of the Awami League government, he said.

“No our party men can sleep peacefully due to the repression and oppression of the fascist government, " he said adding that this very party is still engaged in hatching a conspiracy to destabilise the country’s overall situation.

Commemorating memories of the late BNP leader, Fakhrul stated that Hannan Shah, who was also an army officer, was a person who loved democracy from top to bottom.

He consistently spoke up for democracy and fought for it throughout his life, said Fakrul.

The programme was held on Gazipur Kapashia Pilot Government High School ground with Fazlul Haque Milan, president of the district unit BNP in the chair.