Bangladesh Nationalist Party standing committee member Salahuddin Ahmed on Sunday criticised the interim government for mentioning both December 2025 and June 2026 as possible deadlines for the national election, saying such inconsistency from the chief adviser, a globally respected figure, would not be viewed positively, either nationally or internationally.
He alleged that the social media had become a parallel system of governance in the country, and whenever the BNP talked about polls, the criticism became so intense that it increased risks.
鈥榃hen we talk about democracy, you take the opposite path, and when we discuss elections, you create confusion about the election time frame. Was this the expectation of the July uprising?鈥� Salahuddin questioned.
Salahuddin made these remarks at the national representative conference of Bhashani Anusari Parishad at the National Press Club in the capital Dhaka.
He said that when the BNP demanded the chief adviser鈥檚 promised election road map by December, advisers responded by claiming that the people supposedly want them to stay for five years.
Recently, home adviser retired Lieutenant General Jahangir Alam Chowdhury said that many people told him that they wanted the interim government to stay in power for five years.
Salahuddin questioned whether the home adviser had seen the growing call for his resignation on the social media.
Referring to the student movement during July-August, 2024, the BNP leader said that it was a student-led mass uprising aimed at establishing democratic and constitutional rights.
鈥楾herefore, we want to reclaim our democratic rights, voting rights, and constitutional rights as quickly as possible,鈥� he said.
鈥業f anyone wants to call the July uprising a revolution, I would regret it. It was not a revolution,鈥� Salahuddin said.
There was support from the people for the government formed through the street uprising, but they cannot be an alternative to an elected government, they are certainly unelected, he said.
鈥榃hom is the chief adviser trying to benefit by shifting the election time frame from December to June? Why can鈥檛 he stay firm on one single time frame?鈥�
Salahuddin said that those who were behind the events on January 11 in 2007 had also made various statements and attempted to extend their time in power and had made significant efforts to depoliticise.
鈥業 do not want to suggest that such attempts are visible now, but our experiences were not good ones,鈥� he added.
