‘Shameful for Bangladesh to be considered autocratic’

It is shameful for Bangladesh that it is now considered under autocratic rule, BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said today.

The BNP leader said this while reacting to a German-based report which said Bangladesh among five countries no longer meet standard of democary.

He was addressing a press briefing at party’s Nayapaltan headquarters in Dhaka following a joint meeting with the senior leaders of front and associate bodies of the party.

In the report yesterday, the German-based think-tank Bertelsmann Stiftung said that Bangladesh is among five countries which no longer meet minimum standards for democracy and are now under autocratic rule.

The four other countries are Lebanon, Mozambique, Nicaragua and Uganda.

Fakhrul said due to the report it is shameful for Bangladeshis who earned the independence in the country fighting for democracy.

The current government has taken the country in this level by practicing its autocratic rule, he said.

“Bangladesh is a country of autocracy and it is shameful for our nation,” said Fakhrul.

“For all these days, BNP has been saying democracy is absent in the country and that is now being proven to be true. The government’s mask of autocracy has been unveiled,” he added.

Democracy has been undermined in these five countries for years, and it is often the shortcomings in the quality of elections that tipped the balance, the study said.