Prime Minister Tareque Rahman will not be able to run the government for long, Nasiruddin Patwari, chief organizer of the National Citizen Party (NCP), has said. Pointing to what he called the country’s economic stagnation and diplomatic failures, he alleged that Rahman had “always failed” at governing and that the failures were mounting by the day.
He made the remarks to reporters on Friday afternoon after a march and rally in Companiganj upazila of Sylhet, held as part of the NCP’s “July Awakening to Build the Country” program.
Patwari alleged that the country was facing a severe electricity, gas and fuel crisis, and that government welfare measures such as agriculture cards were reaching BNP activists rather than ordinary people. He said Malaysia’s labor market had not opened as expected and that a visit to China had not produced the hoped-for agreements — which he called proof of the government’s administrative and policy failures.
Criticizing the national election, the NCP leader alleged that “unprecedented engineering” had taken place between 8 p.m. and midnight on polling day, and claimed that Tareque Rahman had personally led the process. BD Global Times could not independently verify the allegation.
Patwari said his party’s three main agendas were a free and fair democratic election, reform of the state, and the trial of crimes committed during the Awami League’s tenure.
“Seventy percent of the country’s people voted for reform. If the BNP takes a position against that verdict, its fall in the face of a public movement is certain,” he warned.
Alleging that trials of Awami League-era crimes had stalled, he claimed that controversial Awami League figures were being released in exchange for money. Referring to a recent open procession by the Chhatra League and Jubo League in Cox’s Bazar, he said the killers of Osman Hadi, Abu Sayeed, Mugdho and others killed in last year’s uprising were still free while their families waited for justice.
Explaining the party’s position on the presidency, Patwari said the NCP had approached all political parties with a proposal to remove the president or form a national government, but that none had responded. He said the BNP’s firm stance in favor of retaining the constitution of the Sheikh Hasina era had meant the new government took its oath under that constitution.
Earlier, speaking to reporters at the Sylhet Circuit House on Friday in response to cases filed against NCP leaders in Habiganj, Patwari described Tareque Rahman as a “gangster” and made sweeping allegations against several BNP leaders, saying that if they were ranked they would “put the Italian mafia to shame” and that “we are in a terror state.” The BNP leaders he referred to could not immediately be reached for comment, and no legal cases substantiate the allegations.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report