BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on Monday said they gave the Dr Muhammad Yunus-led Interim Government the necessary time to create a suitable atmosphere for holding a national election.
“We have given this interim government the time required to create a proper environment for holding an election,” he said.
Mirza Fakhrul said this while talking to reporters after meeting the Chief Adviser and senior BNP leaders at the State Guest House, Jamuna, in the capital.
This is the first formal meeting between the head of the interim government and BNP leaders since the government’s formation on August 8.
The BNP Secretary General said they did not discuss the election issue at the meeting.
“But we’ve earlier said that it will take a certain amount of time to create a suitable environment for the election. “We’ve certainly given them that time,” he said.
Fakhrul h, however, did not clarify what was meant by a certain amount of time for the arrangement of the next general election.
He said their party is giving full support to all the activities of the current interim government.
“We’re saying one thing very clearly so that the people are not misled by the attempts to create instability and chaos, and to raise the smoke of communalism in the country,” Fakhrul said.
He said his party wants the people to help the government by upholding religious harmony and public security like in the past. “We’re also completely helping them that way.
The BNP leader said it is very unfortunate that after so much killing of students and people and the torture, Awami League is again talking in different ways which is against the interests of the people of Bangladesh. "We think the government needs to take action in this regard.”
He the country’s people are against the killers who killed students, children and political leaders. “We’ll support the government to take all-out action against them."
Fakhrul said they have given their opinion on what can be done in the current situation of the country and the government has shared with them what it has done and what it is going to do.
“We now feel that it is the sole duty of every patriotic people to help this government,” he said.
The BNP leader bemoaned that a woman who took shelter in India after fleeing from Bangladesh has again started a conspiracy to destroy the victory of the people of Bangladesh.
“We have made it very clear that the story on the so-called minority has been cooked with complete an intention to malign Bangladesh, the government and thwart the revolution of the students and masses.”
Earlier, a nine-member delegation, led by Fakhrul sat in a meeting with the Chief Adviser at 4 pm at the State Guest House 'Jamuna'.
Apart from Fakhrul, BNP standing committee member Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain, Jamiruddin Sircar, Mirza Abbas, Nazrul Islam Khan, Abdul Moyeen Khan, Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury, Selima Rahman and Salahuddin Ahmed joined around the hour the long meeting.
After the meeting with BNP, the Chief Adviser had also meetings with different political parties, including Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, AB Party, NDM and Gono Odhikar Parishad.
Meanwhile, the BNP standing committee sat in a meeting at the party Chairperson’s Gulshan office in the evening and discussed the outcome of their meeting with the Chief Adviser.
As former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina fled the country after resigning in the face of a student-led mass movement, the interim government was formed under the leadership of Nobel Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus.