Nahid accuses BNP government of following old path of autocracy

National Citizen Party (NCP) Convener and Opposition Chief Whip Nahid Islam on Sunday accused the BNP-led government of following the same old path of autocracy.

Speaking at a press briefing after an alliance meeting at the opposition leader’s residence in the capital, Nahid said the government had disregarded the public mandate of the referendum and shown no intention of implementing provisions of the July Charter.

He said the government had not taken the oath for the Reform Commission, convened a session or refrained from politicising institutions, including the Election Commission.

Nahid said they had expected a peaceful government and an impartial Election Commission, but instead believed the government was also moving towards autocracy.

He said a proposal had been made for the presidential election to allow the collective election of a universally acceptable president. Proposals were also made to amend the election process and explore ways to strengthen the president’s powers within a system of checks and balances.

According to Nahid, they had expected the president to be elected after the election in accordance with the July Charter. He said they also expected the public mandate, which he claimed had received 70 percent support, to be reflected through implementation of the July Charter and formation of a Constitution Reform Council.

The NCP leader also criticised the decision to retain the incumbent president for another six months without judicial accountability, questioning whether this could lead to political manoeuvring ahead of future caretaker transitions.

Referring to BNP’s past record, Nahid alleged that the party had repeatedly sought to retain power during transitional periods and had created political and constitutional crises in Bangladesh.

Responding to a journalist’s question about why the NCP was nominating a candidate despite the possibility of losing the election, Nahid said the party believed the democratic process should be participatory and competitive.

At the press briefing, Nahid announced that the 11-party coalition would field LDP Chairman and veteran freedom fighter Col (retd) Oli Ahmad as its presidential candidate in an effort to uphold competitive and participatory democracy.