BNP acting chairman Tarique Rahman on Sunday said that he firmly believed that most people will vote for the sheaf of paddy, BNP's electoral symbol, in the national election next February.
Tarique made the remark while virtually addressing the biennial conference of the party's Rajshahi city unit in the afternoon.
He said the main goal of the student-led mass uprising that ousted then prime minister Sheikh Hasina and the Awami League regime in August 2024 was to establish the political rights of the people and to protect individual freedoms.
"The autocrat has now fled in the face of the movement. Now we must establish people's governance and political rights. The key means is to ensure that people can directly cast their votes. Through their votes, the people will decide who will run the country for a fixed term in the coming days."
"The [interim] government has announced that the national election will be held before the upcoming Ramadan. Through this election, the first step towards restoring people's rights will be implemented. But it is not enough just to hold an election or form a government through votes. The people want to know from BNP leaders and activists what the future of the country will be. What will BNP do next? Why do they want to know? Because the people of Bangladesh want to place their trust in BNP."
'AL destroyed healthcare system to send people abroad for treatment'
Tarique also said the Awami League government destroyed the country's healthcare system so that people would have to go to neighbouring countries for treatment.
"During the previous autocratic regime, the healthcare system was arranged in such a way that people were forced to go to a neighbouring country for services," he said while virtually addressing a conference of BNP's Rajshahi city unit.
"They would send foreign currency abroad in the name of treatment. We now have to develop our own doctors and nurses so that people can receive advanced medical services in the hospitals of this country.
"The autocratic government was forced to flee in the face of a people's movement. They had occupied power for more than a decade. We have seen how they perpetrated enforced disappearances, killings and murders.
"We have seen how they filed false cases against people who held opposing views. Most of those present here have been harassed with false cases. Not only BNP, but many other political parties — big and small — that stood up for people's rights, were targeted with false cases. They carried out disappearances and killings. We were engaged in politics, but even family members who were not involved in politics were harassed … We have seen how the steamroller of oppression was run over even those not in politics because they protested."
Tarique, the son of BNP Chairperson and former prime minister Khaleda Zia, also said that the Awami League regime destroyed the country's electoral process during their 15 years in power.
"The electoral process was shattered at every level. The judiciary was destroyed. Law enforcement agencies were politicised and ruined. The economy was destroyed. In the name of mega development, mega corruption was carried out. We have seen how wealth was looted and laundered abroad."
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