BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir has said that his party is different from Jamaat-e-Islami in terms of ideology and political principles.

“We believe in democracy, religious freedom and religious values of all religions. But Jamaat does politics to establish Islam and it doesn’t match with us,” Fakhrul said in an exclusive interview with UNB at his Uttara residence this week.

He, however, said that there are many equations and polarisations in parliamentary politics.

“The main issue here is the number or 151 seats,” he said.

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Every party, he said, tries to get 151 seats and that's why parties make alliances with Jamaat or reach an understating with Jamaat without forging an alliance. “Awami League had a clear relationship with Jamaat when it waged a movement against us in 1994-1996.”

The BNP leader said their party had an electoral alliance with Jamaat, but not an ideological one. “Our politics will depend entirely on our interests. We’re now going to wage our simultaneous movement independently but not under any alliance.”

He also said Awami League talks against Jamaat only to make political gains, but it has not so far taken any step to ban the party.

Replying to a question, Fakhrul said their party wants all opposition parties, including the left-leaning and Islamic ones, to participate in the simultaneous movement to force the AL government to resign paving the way for holding the next general election under a neutral caretaker administration.

Fakhrul said talks are underway on proposal to form a national government with all parties after a credible election.  “It can be in the name of the national government or coalition government. The crisis created by Awami League in the country is difficult for any single political party to solve. If there is no national consensus then it will not be easy to overcome the problems.”

He claimed that BNP has already been able to create a solid ground for a successful ‘simultaneous’ movement. The pro-democratic political parties this time have no scope to step back from the street agitation for a polls-time neutral government.

He, however, said their party does not want any such situation to emerge in Bangladesh that can hinder democracy as they are still looking for a peaceful solution and a responsible role from the Awami League government as BNP did in 1996 by accepting a popular demand for the caretaker government.

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During the interview the BNP leader openly talked about the party’s plans for the simultaneous movement, the Dhaka rally on December 10, the Election Commission, the next election, the national government, and BNP’s relations with Jamaat and India. This is the second part of the interview.

About India, Fakhrul said his party considers the neighbouring country as a special friend of Bangladesh as it had major contributions to the 1971 Liberation War of the country. “As a major political party, BNP always recognises it…but we don’t expect interference of India or any other country in the internal politics of Bangladesh. We want the democratic countries of the world to keep their role so that Bangladesh can run democratically, and people can establish their rights.”

He said the democratic countries also should think whether they will deepen their relations with the people of Bangladesh or with only the government.

“As India is a democratic country and our close neighbour, we think it should not take any stance against the hopes and aspirations of the people of Bangladesh. We also expect that India as our friend will not go against any efforts to give democracy an institutional shape in Bangladesh,” he observed.

Speaking about the new Election Commission Fakhrul said the problem lies with the Awami League government more than the election body.

He said the EC cannot hold a credible election without a non-partisan government in Bangladesh. “So, we want a non-party government to remain in place during the election. This is our main target.”

Asked whether the current Election Commission’s strong role in the Gaibandha-5 by-polls can appease BNP a bit, Fakhrul said, “We think not only the current commission, but also a commission from heaven consisting of all the angels won’t be able to hold a credible election under the Awami League government.”

Under such a situation, he said the government should play a responsible role in accepting the demand for the polls-time neutral government to avert street violence and peacefully overcome the political crisis. “Any sensible government should do it. From this point of view, I want to give credit to HM Ershad as he had finally resigned (in 1990). I also salute our leader Khaleda Zia as she introduced the caretaker government and then resigned accepting people’s demand.”

Fakhrul said they have long been in talks with political parties for waging a simultaneous movement.

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“We’re now in the second phase of talks. We’ll first reach a consensus about the demands of the simultaneous movement and then we’ll come up with the outline of the movement and the simultaneous programmes at the end of the second phase of the talks.”

He said the second round of dialogue with the political parties will be completed by November and then a liaison committee will be formed. “Since the liaison committee is not yet formed, it will not be justified to say what will be our next course of action. “The simultaneous movement will be carried out based on the decision of the liaison committee.”

About the party’s planned rally in Dhaka on Decemeber 10, the BNP leader said they are working and taking preparations to make it a huge success through the huge participation of people.