Why try to delay polls if you are confident of victory? Salahuddin asks Jamaat

Senior BNP leader Salahuddin Ahmed has asked why the Jamaat-e-Islami is trying to delay the upcoming election through various ploys, including street demonstrations, if it is so confident about coming to power as its leaders claim.

Speaking at a youth dialogue in the capital, he also criticised Jamaat’s demand for banning the Jatiyo Party and the Awami League’s other allies in the 14-party alliance, while the party is now on the streets together with a party that contested the 7 January 2024 national election during Sheikh Hasina’s rule.

“There were a few rallies of Jamaat and other parties across the country yesterday (Friday). Some newspapers carried headlines today saying Jamaat leaders claimed they will form the government and that the BNP will be the opposition. But who decides that? Is it you, or is it the people? If you are so confident, then why do you not join the election instead of making excuses one after another to obstruct it?” the BNP leader said.

He added that the BNP knows what Jamaat’s real purpose is — to derail the national election. “We will tell you (people) about it in a few days.”

Arpan Alok Sangha organised the Third Dialogue on Youth’s State of Thought, titled “Human Value-based Education and Campuses,” at the Institution of Diploma Engineers, Bangladesh.

Salahuddin, a BNP Standing Committee member, also accused Jamaat of having “double standards,” saying the people are noticing who Jamaat has joined in its simultaneous movement over various demands, including introducing a proportional representation (PR) system and banning the 14-party alliance and Jatiyo Party (JaPa).

“Among the seven parties (in Jamaat’s movement alliance), one is now your ally that took part in the sham election on 7 January 2024,” he said without mentioning the party’s name.

“If they become innocent just because they are with you, then what about the 28 others who took part in the dummy election with the Awami League? Are they sinners? The idea that if someone joins you in the simultaneous movement, their past wrongs are forgiven, but if they were with others, they are sinners — this principle is not right,” Salahuddin said.

In an indirect reference to Islami Andolan Bangladesh, he said this party was also a partner of the Awami League as it joined previous elections, except the 2024 national one, held under Hasina.

Salahuddin said differences of opinion are part of democracy and that any party can take to the streets to press home its demands by exercising democratic rights.

“But we have been saying that these issues are still awaiting settlement at the negotiating table. So are you taking to the streets to apply extra pressure? If you do, we will also have to go to the streets to counter it. Is that what we want now? We want these matters resolved at the negotiating table,” he said.

Stating that Bangladesh’s democratic culture has changed a lot following last year’s July Uprising, the BNP leader said political parties should uphold it through practice.

Salahuddin said political parties need to remain united on national issues, including the country’s interests, independence, sovereignty and democracy.

“In democratic practice, there will be debates, differences of opinion and pluralism, but the settlement must come at the dialogue table. If both dialogue and street movement are carried out on the same issue, that is a contradiction,” he opined.

The BNP leader said some parties are talking about proportional representation, but it is the people who will decide that.

He questioned whether some processions and rallies with a few thousand people would be enough to establish the PR system without public mandate.

Salahuddin urged political parties to include their demands in their election manifestos and contest the polls. “If the people give their verdict in your favour, you can implement them. That is the democratic way.”