Govt wants Khaleda, Tarique far from polls: BNP

The government is planning to amend the Representation of People Order (RPO) to disqualify Khaleda Zia and Tarique Rahman from the election, BNP alleged today.

"The government is engaged in hatching a deep-rooted conspiracy to remove Khaleda Zia and Tarique Rahman from the party's leadership,” the party’s Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir alleged in a press conference at Nayapaltan.

It is trying to add a similar article to the RPO which BNP revoked from its party charter – one that will disqualify Khaleda or Tarique to contest in an election, he said.

"Don't walk through an immoral path. Arrange the next general election under a non-party neutral government returning back to the path of democracy," Fakhrul called upon the government.

DEMO FRIDAY FOR KHALEDA'S RELEASE

BNP will stage demonstrations across the country, including the capital, on Friday demanding release of its Chairperson Khaleda Zia from jail and her immediate better treatment.

“We hope the authorities concerned will take necessary steps allowing us to exercise our democratic rights,” Fakhrul said.

Fakhrul said the programme will be held at all district and upazila level headquarters on that day which will also register the party's protest against the government’s “inhumane attitude towards Khaleda”.

As part of the protest, BNP will stage a demonstration in front of its Nayapaltan central office around 3:00pm on the same day.

On February 8, a Special Dhaka court convicted Khaleda and sentenced her to five years' imprisonment in the Zia Orphanage Trust graft case.