Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader has said as per the existing laws of Bangladesh, BNP Chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia and its acting vice-chairman Tarique Rahman are disqualified for contesting in the next elections.
He came with remarks while talking to journalists at his official residence in Dhaka on Thursday.
He said: "BNP chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia was convicted for corruption while her son Tarique Rahman is also a fugitive convicted. Moreover, he fled away the country on undertaking that he would never do politics."
"So...how would a convicted fugitive become the BNP leaders and how can they participate in polls?" he questioned.
He said as the BNP is involved in terrorism, it is isolated from people, resulting failure in movement and elections.
Replying to the allegations of BNP leaders that the government does not want a competitive election, the AL general secretary said: "The BNP is actually afraid of polls."
Quader said the Awami League never wants to score goals on an empty field as it wants competitive elections.
The government believes in participatory elections involving all political parties, he said, adding that joining elections is the political right of all parties but BNP is afraid of defeat.
So, he said, the BNP leaders do not want to participate in the elections.
MS
