Don't want to see any election in Bangladesh under Yunus: BNP leader Fazlur Rahman

Dhaka, Sep 25 (IANS) Suspended leader of Bangladesh National Party (BNP), Fazlur Rahman said on Thursday that he does not want to see any election happening in the country under the Muhammad Yunus-led interim government.

Speaking exclusively to Bangladesh's leading Bengali daily 'Jugantor', Rahman said, "I do not believe 90 per cent that there will be an election in February. Although my party believes it. I do not think that there will be an election in February. And I do not want any election to be held under the Yunus government."

According to Rahman, if the election is conducted in February 2026, it will be rigged just like the student elections in the Dhaka University Central Students' Union (DUCSU). He alleged that everything has been set like a game of dice in favour of the radical Islamist party Jamaat-e-Islami. He claimed that returning officers know how the dice will be played, what the result will be and have already set the dice in advance.

"I don't want any elections under Yunus. There will be a caretaker government for three months. There will be fair elections under that government."

Meanwhile, Bangladesh is facing growing uncertainty and escalating political conflict ahead of next year's election.

Earlier this week, BNP Standing Committee member Selima Rahman alleged that the groups defeated in the country's 1971 Liberation War are attempting to derail the upcoming national elections by staging street protests demanding a Proportional Representation (PR) system.

She accused the radical Islamist parties, including Jamaat, of taking to the streets in the name of the PR system to create instability in the country.

Slamming Jamaat, Selima further said, "Jamaat -- those who once killed people of this country, who betrayed the nation by siding with Pakistan, who acted as Razakars and Al-Badr, who raped women and handed them over to the occupation forces -- today they may appear holy in their words, but they have not forgotten their past ideology."

The BNP leader also accused Jamaat of "trying to undermine the hard-won democratic achievements" of Bangladesh, which were gained through a long struggle.

The parties that earlier collaborated with Yunus to overthrow the democratically elected government of the Awami League, led by Sheikh Hasina, are now at loggerheads over reform proposals.

--IANS

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