Power Cuts across Bangladesh Govt Failure: BNP

Main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party on Tuesday blamed the government’s failure and corruption for the ongoing load-shedding of power across Bangladesh, proving the ‘fragility’ of the government, reports media.

Party secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said this at a press conference at the party chair’s office in Gulshan in the city.

He said that the real goal of the current government is to indulge in corruption, lining their pockets and building houses abroad.

‘The present situation proves that everything related to the government is fragile,’ he said.

‘There is heavy load-shedding — it is terrible. The government is talking about 100 percent [coverage of] power today while the load-shedding proves otherwise…and we have said that what the government is saying is nonsense. The real purpose behind these quick-rental power plants is corruption and pocketing money from the projects to build houses abroad,’ he added.

He said that the government would not be able to win the people’s confidence even if it builds one thousand Padma Bridges, leaving ‘democracy confined’.

‘Let’s see in the election how much confidence they have. There is no use building a thousand Padma Bridges. The development that Ayub Khan [Pakistan's military ruler from 1958 to 1969] brought about during the Pakistan period…but if there is no political freedom of the people, if the people do not have democracy, if there is no democracy, if there are no rights, if there is no right to vote, it’s of no use,’ he said.

In response to a question, Fakhrul clarified that he said that the participation of the BNP in the next general election would depend on whether the government during the election would be a neutral one.

‘If the government during the election is neutral, then our participation will be ensured. And if not, it will not be,’ he added

He said that his party had made it very clear that for the election to be free and fair in Bangladesh there must be a neutral non-partisan government.

‘Otherwise, even if you bring the election commissioner from heaven, you will not be able to make it fair, it is impossible,’ he said.

Fakhrul also said that the government failed to stand by the affected people in the flood-hit areas.

‘Flood victims did not get enough relief as the government was not sincere in it [relief distribution] especially in the post-flood rehabilitation,’ the BNP leader said.

BNP standing committee member Iqbal Hasan Mahmud was present at the press conference among others.