Failed BNP leaders should resign: Quader

Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader today said the failed BNP leaders, including its secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, should resign from their party. He made the remark while speaking at a press conference after joining the board meeting of Bangladesh Bridge Authority at Setu Bhaban at Banani in the capital. Responding to a statement of Fakhrul that the AL government will have to face a Sri Lanka-like situation, Quader said Mirza Fakhrul has failed in elections and the movement as well. “He (Fakhrul) failed to hold the conference of his party in time. That is why he should resign,” he added.

The BNP is expressing complacency dreaming of a Sri Lanka-like situation in Bangladesh but the reality is not the same here, the AL general secretary said. He said the BNP leaders sometimes ride on the shoulders of Arab spring or Hefazat to cover up their past failures, and they also dreamt of the same during the quota reform movement and the safe road movement.

“These issues were nothing but the temporary complacency of the spineless BNP,” he added. Quader, also the road transport and bridges minister, said the BNP made shouts during the last general elections, saying it would not join the polls, but the party took part in the elections after muddling the water. Replying to a question over the use of electronic voting machines (EVMs) in the next general elections, he said it is the jurisdiction of the Election Commission whether it will use EVMs in polls or not.