BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on Sunday said history will never forgive former chief justice ABM Khairul Haque for ‘unethically’ creating a ground for the Awami League to revoke the caretaker government (CG) system to conduct the general election.
Speaking at a discussion, he also said the political and economic future of the people of Bangladesh and their existence is closely related to the issue of a caretaker government, reports UNB.
“The parliament passed the law (revoking the caretaker government system), but justice ABM Khairul Haque created the ground for it. History will never forgive him for it. He first gave a short verdict and later unethically gave the full verdict changing the short version as a civilian16 months after his retirement,” the BNP leader said.
Sachetan Nagorik Foundation arranged the discussion on the caretaker government issue in the current context of Bangladesh at a city hotel, marking its fresh journey as a civic platform for raising awareness among people about their rights and the welfare of the country.
Fakhrul welcome the new platform and hoped it will play a proactive role in creating awareness among people about democracy and the independence of the judiciary as most of its members are involved with the legal profession.
About the necessity of the polls-time neutral government, he said the Awami League first came up with the demand for a neutral interim government in 1994 and enforced hartal (general strike) for 173 days to establish their logic that the election could not be fair under a partisan government.
Later, Fakhrul said the then BNP government, led by Khaleda Zia, introduced the caretaker government system through the 13th amendment to the constitution considering the political culture in Bangladesh as the democratic institutions were not developed properly after the liberation of the country.
He said four acceptable elections were held under the caretaker government, but later it was annulled by Awami League as part of a plot for depoliticisation and staying in power without people’s votes.
Stating that around 65 per cent of the population of the country are youth, Fakhrul said it is necessary to organise the young people for the restoration of the caretaker government to establish peace, stability and a healthy political structure in Bangladesh.
He said the misrule of the Awami League government-- which has been staying in power by force and using the state machinery-- has crossed all the previous colonial and Pakistani rules and HM Ershad’s autocratic regime. “The Awami League government has completely turned Bangladesh into a failed state through its misrule.”