The BNP will not take part in the last phase of municipal and upazila elections. The decision was taken at a meeting of the party's National Standing Committee, the party's highest policy-making forum, on Saturday.
Earlier, the party had announced a boycott of the Union Parishad (UP) elections. The party said in a press release on Monday that the failure of the Election Commission (EC) and illegal government interference had raised serious questions about the recent local government elections.
The meeting also discussed the recent remarks made by Indian Foreign Minister S Jayashankar during his visit to Dhaka and the visit of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to attend the Golden Jubilee celebrations of Bangladesh's independence.
It was decided at the meeting that the BNP's position on the issue would be highlighted in the media through a press conference. The meeting was chaired by BNP acting chairman Tarique Rahman. The party's secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, standing committee member Dr. Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain, Barrister Jamiruddin Sarkar, Mirza Abbas, Gayeshwar Chandra Roy, Dr. Abdul Moin Khan, Nazrul Islam Khan, Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury, Selima Rahman and Iqbal Hasan Mahmud Tuku were present. The meeting discussed the media interview of the young cartoonist who was released on bail in the case of Digital Security Act.
The Digital Security Act, which includes cartoonist and writer Mushtaq Ahmed, expresses deep concern and outrage over the torture of detainees. The meeting called for the immediate release of all detainees under the law and the repeal of the anti-people digital security law. It was decided to build public opinion to demand the repeal of this law.
It was decided that the next program in this regard would be decided after discussions with the main parties and affiliates. The statement further said that the latest physical condition of the party chairperson Khaleda Zia and the ongoing cases against her were discussed at the standing committee meeting.
