Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami ameer and opposition leader Dr Shafiqur Rahman has alleged that efforts are under way to strip expatriates of their voting rights in local government elections. He also said the government is moving away from the promises it made to the nation and walking in the opposite direction. The Jamaat ameer made the comments while speaking at a seminar organised at the National Press Club on Thursday (September 17).
Dr Shafiqur Rahman said the government’s responsibility does not end simply by calling expatriates “remittance warriors”; ensuring their rights is also the government’s duty. He said no initiative to stop or curtail expatriates’ voting rights in local government elections would be accepted, and that such a decision, if taken, would amount to oppression against expatriates.
He also said the labour-market syndicate needs to be broken to prevent a fourth deadlock in Malaysia’s labour market. The opposition, he said, wants victory for the people, not power, and vowed to speak out, eye to eye, against unjust laws that work against the public interest, both inside and outside parliament. Asked about the Digital Security Act, he said any law made with the intention of silencing the public would not be accepted.