Present govt will remain in office during polls: Hasan

Information and Broadcasting Minister Dr Hasan Mahmud on Tuesday said the elections will be held as per the constitution and the present government will perform as the election period government, reports BSS.

"The present government will discharge the responsibility of the election period government and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will perform as the premier," he said while exchanging views with reporters on contemporary issues at the conference room of his ministry at Secretariat in the city.

Hasan said the next elections will be held as per the constitution in Bangladesh like other democratic countries including India, Japan, Australia, the United Kingdom and the Continental Europe. The governments, who are in power, are performing as the election period government in those countries, he added.

Replying to a query, he said the Awami League general secretary replied a question of reporters over the election period government. It was not a proposal and it is not yet to say whether it will be done or not, said Hasan, also Awami League joint general secretary.

He said all these discussions are out of the question if BNP boycotts the polls or insist on for not holding elections without a caretaker government.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina made the proposal herself in 2014, but they did not agree, he added.

He said, "We want to hold a participatory election in a festive mood. In the UK, Bangabandhu's daughter Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina recently said that the Awami League (AL) government also wants free and fair elections in Bangladesh likewise the United Kingdom (UK)."