Khaleda Zia’s BNP slams demands of PR, local polls before national elections

Dhaka: Former prime minister Khaleda Zia’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) on Saturday firmly opposed the demands by major Islamist parties and newly-emerged NCP to introduce proportional representation in the electoral system and hold local government polls ahead of national elections.

"Those who are talking about a proportional election system have a motive. Those who want local government elections before the national election also have a motive,” BNP spokesman Salahuddin Ahmed said.

He blasted the proponents of the two ideas, saying “either they want the election to be delayed, or they want no election at all in Bangladesh”, adding that the proportional representation (PR) system is unsuitable for Bangladesh’s political culture.

The BNP’s reaction came hours after one of the major right-wing parties, Islami Andolan Bangladesh (IAB), rallied a huge number of supporters in the capital from across the country, demanding the introduction of PR system and staging local government polls ahead of the general election.

The IAB made the proposals, reinforcing the demands of Bangladesh's biggest Islamist party, the Jamaat-e-Islami, and the National Citizen Party (NCP), which emerged in February this year.

Jamaat representatives also attended the IAB rally, which simultaneously called for greater unity of Islamist forces in Bangladesh.

The BNP emerged as the single major political party in the country’s murky political landscape after the Muhammad Yunus administration disbanded deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League.

Hasina fled to India when her regime was toppled on August 5 last year, as a fallout of a violent street movement led by a platform called Students against Discrimination (SAD).

Nobel laureate Yunus, 85, flew from Paris to Dhaka to take charge of the interim government three days later. Most senior leaders of the Awami League and the ousted government are now in jail or on the run at home and abroad as the interim government accused them of crimes against humanity and mass murders to tame last year’s “July uprising”.

The SAD leaders and activists subsequently formed the NCP, which appeared to have developed closer ties with right-wing or Islamist groups, including Jamaat. The dispute over the election has pitted the BNP against its former ally, Jamaat. Both parties were part of a four-party alliance government from 2001-2006.

The BNP was also critical of the interim administration’s “reform” and “justice” agenda.

“They (interim government) want to carry out reforms in such a way... so none can ever scrap those reforms,” Ahmed said, adding the government was pressing all to accept their proposed ideas.

Yunus earlier said the polls would be held between December this year and June 2026 after the completion of required reforms and the trial of the ousted regime leaders, while the BNP demanded they be held as early as possible.

Yunus last month announced that the polls would be held in the first half of April next year. However, he agreed to advance the timeframe after a meeting with BNP’s self-exiled acting chairman Tarique Rahman in London, saying the election would be held in the first half of February 2026.