BNP Chairperson’s Advisory Council member Zainul Abedin Farroque on Monday warned that officials who acted as allies of the Awami League in previous 'controversial' elections must not be allowed to take part in conducting the upcoming parliamentary election in February.
"Mr Chief Election Commissioner, we know you well as an honest and capable person. My request to you is that in conducting the 2026 election, you stay alert so that no Awami loyalists who were involved in the 2014, 2018 and 2024 elections can be part of the electoral process or hold any responsibility,” he said.
The BNP leader made the remarks while speaking at a sit-in programme in front of the Jatiya Press Club organised by Ganatantra Forum.
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He alleged that deposed autocratic ruler Sheikh Hasina, sitting in Delhi, is again plotting to destroy the democracy that was brought by the martyrs of the July-August mass uprising, including Abu Sayed and Mir Mahfuzur Rahman Mugdho.
Farroque, also a former opposition chief whip in parliament, said Hasina’s associates, who helped her hold the controversial and one-sided elections in 2014, 2018 and 2024, are still in the Secretariat holding important positions.
He also warned that a free and fair election will never be possible as long as the cohorts of Awami fascism remain in the administration.
Stating that a new conspiracy is going to derail the election, Farroque said BNP will not back away from the struggle to protect people’s right to vote.
Calling upon BNP leaders and activists to stay united, he said, “We have lost our mothers, fathers, and brothers for democracy. We have been tortured inside the Aynaghar. It is time to respond to Tarique Rahman’s call and act as our leader has directed.”
He criticised Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami and some other Islamic parties for their street programmes demanding the introduction of the Proportional Representation (PR) election system.
“If you want the PR system, go to the people. Win their votes to go to parliament with a majority and then change the Constitution to introduce the PR system,” the BNP leader said, pointing at Jamaat and its partners of the simultaneous movement.