"Obaidul Quader and his party men start shaking when they hear about any rally of the opposition parties as the facts started coming out of Pandora's box,” said BNP senior joint secretary general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi.
Speaking at a press conference at the party’s Nayapaltan central office, he also said the Awami League has become a ‘terrorism-producing centre’ instead of ensuring good governance.
On Friday, BNP’s defeated mayoral candidates announced to hold rallies in six cities protesting what they said vote fraud in the elections to Dhaka, Chattogram, Khulna, Barishal and Rajshahi city corporations.
Reacting to such programmes of the party, Obaidul Quader said BNP is trying to destabilise the country by creating unnecessary tension, and warned of tackling with an iron hand the opposition is it tries to indulge in violence in the name of rallies.
Rizvi said their mayoral candidates in six cities announced to hold rallies to protest election irregularities and mount pressure on the government to hold the polls in a neutral and credible manner. “This’s the democratic way. Why does Obaidul Quader sense a threat here?”
He alleged that the ruling party general secretary’s such a threat has exposed the current government’s ‘repressive and authoritarian’ rule.
“His (Quader’s) remark has proved once again that Awami League has never learned the democratic culture, tradition and liberal attitude that are essential for a vibrant democracy,” the BNP leader observed.
He also said there is no point of issuing a threat to BNP as the government’s ‘misdeeds’ are gradually getting leaked.
Stating that holding rallies is constitutional and democratic right of political parties, Rizvi said no political leader can issue a threat to resist such programmes.