Terming the BNP lawmakers’ decision to resign from Parliament a mistake, Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader on Sunday said that the House would not sit idle without the seven of them.
Several other senior leaders reacted to the BNP’s move a day after the party conducted its 10th and last divisional rally, and declared 10-point charter for demands that included the dissolution of Parliament and holding the next election under a non-party government.
Mentioning that the BNP created terror among the people ahead of their Dhaka rally, Quader said that the party had failed miserably in destabilizing the country.
Quader, also the road transport and bridges was addressing the triennial conference of Manikganj unit Awami League. He said a final match would be held next year against the corrupt, the plunderers of public money and those committing crimes against humanity.
He said that the pro-Liberation War force led by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina would crush the evil forces in the fight ahead.
He also came down hard on the foreign missions in Dhaka for expressing concerns over the ongoing political situation in the country. Quader said the police could not keep mum while being attacked.
Regarding BNP’s threat of ousting the government, he said: “The root of the Awami League is very deep. It is not easy to topple the government of Sheikh Hasina.
Thousands of party activists and leaders gathered on the Manikganj Bijoy Mela Ground ahead of the council.
‘There will be no political impact’
Awami League Presidium Member and Agriculture Minister Dr Mohammad Abdur Razzak on Sunday said that the previous parliament was run without the BNP.
“The BNP is not the opposition party in Parliament. Therefore, even if seven BNP members resign, there will be no political impact,” he told reporters at the Tangail Circuit House.
The minister added that the BNP lacked competence in declaring a movement and observing it. “It’s unfortunate that they didn’t join the polls before 2018. An opposition party is very necessary for parliamentary democracy. But if there is none, we have nothing to do,” he said.
Information and Broadcasting Minister Dr Hasan Mahmud on Sunday said the BNP was on the path of violence and terrorism, and its lawmakers resigned from Parliament to obstruct the prevailing democracy of the country.
“The BNP leaders and activists clashed with the common people at different places yesterday (Saturday) and vandalized and torched motorbikes,” he told reporters at the Secretariat.
“The BNP said that they would demand the government’s resignation and topple it on December 10. But now, they have announced their resignation. It proves that they want to obstruct the democratic system,” he said, adding that BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir had not taken his oath despite being elected an MP in 2018 due to the directive of their high command.
Meanwhile, Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JaSaD) President and former information minister Hasanul Haque Inu said that the BNP’s demands were a conspiracy to destroy the country’s Constitution.
He was speaking at a view exchange meeting with leaders and activists of the party at the Circuit House in Kushita on Sunday. Rejecting the demands, Inu said the BNP had once again proved that it wanted to destabilize the country.
Slamming the BNP for its allegation that the government was oppressive towards Islamic scholars, Inu said that those behind bars were militants and criminals and not scholars.
Fisheries and Livestock Minister SM Rezaul Karim alleged that the BNP wanted to go to power in an unconstitutional way.
“The current government will hand over power to the elected government, and it is a constitutional process, but the BNP and its associate bodies deny the process, which means they do not follow the path of the constitution. Whatever they say is contradictory to the constitution,” he said at a program held at Jatiya Press Club in the city. https://www.dhakatribune.com/politics/2022/12/11/awami-league-remains-unmoved-over-bnp-mps-resignation
