‘Next election has no link with Khaleda’s release’

An Awami League (AL) senior leader said on Monday the next national election has no relation with the release of BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia, reports BSS.

"She (Begum Zia) is not a prisoner of state . . . She is the convict of a graft case," he said.

AL Publicity and Publication Secretary Dr Hasan Mahmud made the comments while speaking at a human chain programme organised by Awami Muktijouddha Projonmp League in front of the National Press Club in the city, protesting the atrocities in Palestine.

Hasan, also the chairman of the parliamentary standing committee on the Forest and Environment Ministry, said Jatiya Party Chairman HM Ershad took part in the polls while he was in jail. So it will not be a problem for Khaleda Zia to participate in the next polls.

Criticising the role of BNP leaders and activists over the issues of their party chairperson Khaleda Zia and Tareque Rahman, the AL leader said BNP should refrain from keeping busy with their cases as issues; rather they should take preparation for the next polls.

Dr Hasan categorically said, "No party has any scope to be elected uncontested in the next polls as many political parties are ready to take part in the parliamentary election."

He confidently said the AL and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina are at present much stronger than in 2014 and the incumbent government has brightened its image globally.

No humanist can accept such brutal murders which are taking place in Palestine, Hasan said, adding Bangladesh also cannot allow the heinous act.

The AL always strongly raises strong voice against the mass killings in Palestine, he added.

Hasan claimed that the BNP-Jamaat alliance did not protest it, though the BNP used to use the name of Islam during the polls time and do business with the religion.

The AL leader urged the people to remain alert against the role of BNP-Jamaat in the upcoming elections.

Advocate Asaduzzaman Durjoy presided over the human chain. AL advisory council member Golam Mawla Naksebandhi, former state minister Shamsul Haque Tuku, MP, AL leader Baloram Poddar and Dhaka city AL leaders Shahe Alam Murad and Kamal Chowdhury, among others, spoke on the occasion.