If Election Promises Are Broken, Chief Advisor Must Bear Responsibility: Fakhrul

BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir has said that if election promises are violated, the chief election advisor must bear the responsibility. He also alleged that the Consensus Commission has deceived both the public and political parties.

He made the remarks on Wednesday (29 October) at the National Press Club during the book launch of “Justice-Reform-Elections: Bangladesh in the Interim Period”, written by journalist and fiction writer Ehsan Mahmud and published by Adarsha Publications.

Addressing the chief advisor, Fakhrul warned: “Implement the necessary reforms and conduct a credible election. The people will accept the outcome of such an election. But if that promise is broken, the chief advisor alone will be held accountable.”

He added, “We were surprised to see that when the Consensus Commission released its report yesterday, the ‘notes of dissent’ were completely missing. They were entirely ignored. How can this be called a consensus? Then why was the Consensus Commission formed at all? I call it a betrayal—both to the public and to political parties.”

Fakhrul said that the Consensus Commission submitted their report to the chief advisor, who signed it as chairman. “We had submitted our notes of dissent on issues where we disagreed. There was a promise to include these notes. But when the report was published yesterday, those notes were entirely omitted. This is not consensus; it is deception,” he said.

He further stressed that the issues must be corrected immediately, warning that otherwise it would go against the spirit of unity.

Fakhrul also emphasised that only a truly credible election can resolve the country’s crises. The parliament formed through such an election will implement reforms in accordance with the constitution. “That is why we spoke about holding elections immediately after 5 August. At the time, many said BNP was rushing because it wanted power. Today, it is clear that the longer the election is delayed, the stronger the forces become that seek to destabilise Bangladesh,” he said.

He added, “As a nation, we must reflect on where we truly want to go. After so many sacrifices, so much upheaval, and loss of life to bring about change, are we using it for the nation’s welfare? Unfortunately, we see that as days pass, we are becoming increasingly divided. We must understand who is causing this division and why.”

Khabarwala/MAD