AL wants participatory elections: Hasan

Information and Broadcasting Minister Dr Hasan Mahmud on Sunday said Awami League wants an election participated by all political parties of the country, including the BNP.

“We (AL) want BNP’s participation in the next general election though the party (BNP) was born through the backdoor,” the minister told the reporters prior to addressing a function in observance of the International Mother’s Day in the city’s CIRDUP auditorium.

Hasan informed that a six-hour-long meeting of the Awami League Working Committee was held yesterday where Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina gave instructions to hold the party conference regularly.

“She also put emphasis on forming different sub-committees,” Hasan said, adding, “The Premier also told the meeting that we (AL) want a participatory election of all political parties, including BNP.”

Replying to a query, the minister said there is no possibility of a non-partisan government during the election period as per the constitution of the country.

The current governments discharge the duty of polls-time government in all the democratic countries across the globe including India, the United Kingdom, Australia, the USA and European countries, he added. Besides, he said, elections are held under the Election Commission (EC), but not under the government. The administrative officials are not under the government when the polls are held as they perform responsibility under the EC, he added.

In fact, BNP is afraid of polls, said Hasan, also Awami League joint general secretary. Replying to another query about a recent report of the Reporters Sans FrontiSres (RSF), the minister said the report is malicious, objectionable and unacceptable.

Replying to another query over the recent rail incident, he said, “I don’t think that the minister (railways minister) lied. I don’t know all relatives of my wife and none of us knows all of our all relatives. I also think that it is not appropriate to suspend anyone on the instruction of the wife of a minister.”

During the function, the minister paid rich tributes to all parents of the world, saying the mother’s affection for her children is universal and cannot be compared to others. An enlightened mother is needed to build an enlightened nation, he added.

Hasan said following the directives of Bangabandhu’s daughter Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, the government has enacted a special act for providing support to the parents and even many cases were lodged under the act.