Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami amir Shafiqur Rahman on Friday urged the Election Commission to organise the local government elections before the national polls.
鈥楾here is now an Election Commission in place, which claims it will deliver the best election in the country鈥檚 history. We want an acid test from them. Hold local elections first and let us see your sincerity and capability,鈥� he said.
The Jamaat chief came up with the call while addressing a conference of the workers of the party鈥檚 district and town units at Mymensingh circuit house.
Shafiqur said that the parliamentary elections decided who would rule the country for five years, but the people had been suffering as they did not have their representatives at various levels of the local bodies.
鈥業f people are satisfied with the local government elections, then they will extend their full support to the Election Commission. Otherwise, they will show the EC a 鈥渞ed card鈥�,鈥� he said.
Criticising the recently submitted women reform commission鈥檚 report, Shafiqur said, 鈥楽everal parts of the report contain recommendations that go against the Qur鈥檃n and the sunnah.鈥�
Once the chief adviser returns to the country, a call will be made for the cancellation of this report, he said.
He said that commodity prices were heating up again and urged the government to pay attention to that.
He also said that those who committed mass killings during the July-August uprising must not be allowed to escape punishment.
Their punishment must be ensured, he said.