Jamaat-e-Islami Ameer and Opposition Leader Shafiqur Rahman on Saturday said his party would participate in the upcoming local government elections if a level playing field was ensured for all contestants.

“We will certainly try to clear the way for elections before the polls. We will demand a level playing field. When equal opportunities are ensured for everyone in the election, we will participate,” he said.

He made these remarks at a discussion meeting with print and electronic media journalists at the Moulvibazar Circuit House.

“We do not want to be anyone’s scapegoat; we want to fight for people’s rights. We want the person chosen by the people through their votes to come to power,” he said.

The Jamaat chief expressed concern over the election environment, saying he sees no positive signs regarding the local government polls.

Referring to the Chief Whip’s reported remarks that areas where BNP candidates fail to win will not receive government allocations, he said such statements were intimidating voters ahead of the election.

“This is shameful. Through this, people are being intimidated in advance. If elections are held amid such intimidation and partisan influence, there is little possibility of them being fair,” he said.

He questioned the appointment of a retired BNP cadre as an additional secretary to the Election Commission, saying people wanted to know why a party-affiliated person had been brought into the institution.

The Opposition Leader also criticised the government over the law and order situation, alleging that there had been no visible improvement in public security despite claims by government officials that the situation had improved.

Several other local and central Party leaders also attended the program.

It was Shafiqur Rahman’s first visit to his home district of Moulvibazar since the national parliamentary election.