Bangladesh Awami League General Secretary and Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader on Wednesday (Dec 25) said the elections of Dhaka’s two city corporations will be free, fair and acceptable ones.
“We are hoping that different political parties, including Bangladesh Nationalist Party - BNP, will participate in the city polls scheduled to be held on Jan 30. We will welcome BNP in the elections…We are assuring all that the elections will be free, fair and incredible ones,” he said.
Quader was addressing a reunion function organised by Dhaka University Political Science Department Alumni Association (DUPDAA) at TSC auditorium on the campus, local media reported.
Noting that the elections would be competitive ones – no matter who wins or loses, he said if Awami League-backed candidates lose in the elections, it would not be a big problem for the government.
He assured that the government will provide all-out support to the Election Commission so that it can perform its duties independently.
Different opinions in politics are very common, but unfortunately political intolerance is on the rise in the country, he said, adding politicians, nowadays, are talking like the reckless drivers.
Quader urged politicians to build bridge of relationship among them and come back to practicing healthy politics from the culture of polarised and divisive politics, saying “we are making a wall of intolerance instead of making bridge of relationship among us (politicians)”.
Former lawmaker Nazmul Haque Prodhan, former Bangladesh Ambassador to the United States M Humayun Kabir, former Secretary Mahmudul Hasan and former president of DUPDAA Rezaul Haq Chowdhury, among others, attended the function with DUPDAA president Mizanur Rahman in the chair.
