BNP Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi on Friday said the BNP government has implemented most of its electoral pledges and programmes earmarked for its first six months in office.
He made the remarks at an emergency press conference at the BNP central office in Nayapaltan in the afternoon.
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Rizvi claimed that the government has met its targets in most areas, with implementation reaching 100 percent in some cases and 90-95 percent in others.
“According to the targets set for six months, more or less all of them have been fulfilled. Some may not have reached 100 percent, but there it is 95 percent or 90 percent. In some areas, it has reached 100 percent,” he said.
He said it took some time to put in place the necessary structures and administrative preparations for implementing the programmes.
Rizvi expressed hope that the government’s programmes would be implemented more vigorously and swiftly during the next six months.
He said a detailed written account or booklet outlining the government’s achievements over the past six months would soon be made available to journalists.
The document will contain detailed statistics on various government programmes, including the Family Card, Farmer Card and canal excavation initiatives, he said.
Asked about BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir’s resignation from his party post after being nominated for the presidency, Rizvi said there was no legal requirement for him to resign from a party or government post before taking the oath of office.
“However, the decision to resign from the party’s secretary general post was taken on ethical grounds,” he said.
At the beginning of the press conference, Rizvi highlighted various aspects of former BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia’s political life.
He said Khaleda Zia had never deviated from her commitment to independence, sovereignty and establishing democracy.
“For this reason, she had to endure sorrow, pain, persecution and repression throughout her political life,” he said.
Rizvi said BNP would organise prayer programmes at party offices across Dhaka and elsewhere in the country on Saturday to mark Khaleda Zia’s birthday.
A prayer programme will be held at the BNP central office in Nayapaltan at 11am, while another will be held at the party chairperson’s Gulshan office after Asr prayers, he said.
Asked whether any organisational change was imminent following a Facebook post by Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal (JCD) president Rakibul Islam Rakib and General Secretary Nasir Uddin Nasir, Rizvi said he had received no such directive.
“I have not received any such directive today. No directives or instructions have come to me,” he said.
Rizvi said he was not aware of any discussion on the matter between the party high command and others.
“If there is any final decision, it will be announced through a press release,” he said.
BNP Joint Secretary Generals Khairul Kabir Khokon and Habib-un-Nabi Khan Sohel, Volunteer Affairs Secretary Mir Sarafat Ali Sapu, Assistant Office Secretary Md Munir Hossain, BNP National Executive Committee member (in charge of office affairs) and Prime Minister’s Research Officer Abdus Sattar Patwari, among others, were present at the press conference.