BNP standing committee member Abdul Moyeen Khan has said that the 7 January one-sided seat-sharing election is the object of jokes and criticism at home and abroad. The government on its own accord is making it all the more farcical and spurring on further violence day by day. Not satisfied with just producing dummy candidates and dummy parties, it has now turned its focus to forcefully create dummy voters.
Moyeen Khan was speaking Friday morning at a press briefing arranged in front of his residence. The BNP leader said, their party's standing committee held a meeting yesterday, Thursday. The press briefing had been arranged to highlight the issues discussed at the meeting and the party's stand concerning the election.
BNP national standing committee members Nazrul Islam Khan and Selima Rahman were with Moyeen Khan at the briefing.
Reading out a written statement, Moyeen Khan said, "Along with BNP and other democratically-minded parties, the voters of all walks of life, people with conscience and awareness, were unitedly boycotting and rejecting the so-called election. He said that desperately trying to cling on to power, the government had made a despicable arrangement in the name of a 'participatory and inclusive election'. That is why Awami League and a marked section of the state machinery had drawn up a blueprint for their conspiracy."
Moyeen Khan said, the manner in which the government has resorted to violence in order to display artificial voter turnout at the meaningless election being held against the people's wishes, was morally anti-people and politically childish. Their planned misguided effort was not only tarnishing Bangladesh's reputation, but was also making the election a symbol of the shamelessness and bankruptcy of the exploiting ruling class. Their manipulations to show a high voter turnout was now clear to the international stakeholders, as was evident in the foreign news media coverage.
BNP's standing committee member Moyeen Khan went on to say, the MPs of the night-time votes are now going all around, threatening the thousands of beneficiaries that they would lose their financial benefits if they did not turn up to vote. The allowances are a continuous process under all governments, but now Awami League is using this to force people to the polling centres. It is being said that their allowances and benefits will be halted if they do not vote on 7 January.
Moyeen Khan said Awami League central and local leaders had already began confiscating the beneficiaries' cards in several areas as part of their strategy to use force. They are even going from home to home, threatening the people that their cards will not be returned unless they go and vote openly at the polling centres. The local administration is also being used to force the people to vote, wielding the various benefits as a tool.
Moyeen Khan also alleged that an administrative initiative has been taken for 2 million government service holders to cast their vote by means of postal ballot. A large section of the administration is disconcerted by this decision being forced upon them. This evil initiative to control the government servants' voting rights has created concern at home and abroad about the impartiality and transparency of the election process.
In the written statement, Moyeen Khan called upon the voters to "face this illegitimate government's threats and intimidation with courage. Take note of the name of the people who force you to go to the polling centres."
