Fakhrul calls for speedy completion of election preparations

Along with thanking the chief advisor, BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir has urged the Election Commission (EC) to quickly complete the election preparations and create an electoral environment.

He made this call at a discussion titled 'Role of Journalists in the Mass Uprising of Students and People' at the National Press Club auditorium on Thursday afternoon. It was jointly organized by the Federal Union of Journalists-BFUJ and Dhaka Union of Journalists-DUJ.

Mirza Fakhrul said, “I would like to thank Professor Muhammad Yunus from this forum that he has instructed the Election Commission to organize all the election work by December... This is a very positive thing. We hope that the Election Commission will complete this work very quickly and create an electoral environment. We demand... that this election be free, impartial and acceptable to all.”

He said, “I am a very optimistic person. Here Manna Bhai (Mahmudur Rahman Manna) wants to know whether there will be elections or not. Many have said that there will be no elections. Why? The people of this country want elections; the people of this country have sacrificed their lives for elections, because the people want an elected representation through parliament. I think there is no problem with these things. The problem is that as soon as possible, we move towards an elected government by carrying out reforms, and we move towards democracy.”

DUJ Vice President Rashedul Haque presented a condolence notion on the 64 journalists martyred in the July movement, including the anti-fascist movement. BNP secretary general honored the family of BFUJ's late president Ruhul Amin Gazi and the families of six journalists martyred in the July mass uprising.

At the beginning of the program, BNP secretary general inaugurated a photo exhibition of the anti-fascist movement and the July student-people movement with Jamaat secretary general Mia Golam Parwar and Nagorik Oikya president Mahmudur Rahman Manna.

The discussion meeting was presided over by Dhaka Journalists Union president Shahidul Islam, while general secretary Khurshid Alam moderated the meeting.

Among others, BNP Standing Committee member Professor AZM Zahid Hossain, chairperson's Advisory Council member Abdus Salam, Jamaat-e-Islami secretary general Mia Golam Parwar, Jamaat-e-Islami assistant secretary Ehsanul Mahbub Zubair, Nagorik Oikya president Mahmudur Rahman Manna, BFUJ acting president Obaidur Rahman Shaheen, secretary general Kader Gani Chowdhury, National Press Club president Hasan Hafiz, senior journalists Abdul Hai Sikder, Syed Abdal Ahmed, Ilias Khan, AKM Mohsin, Irfanul Haque Zahid, Sayeed Khan, Didarul Alam, Khandaker Alamgir Hossain and expatriate journalist Imran Ansari spoke.