Party demands removal of EC official Shamsul Alam and warns the appointment could undermine confidence in local polls
Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami today accused the BNP-led government of politicising state institutions by appointing party leaders and activists to key posts, despite its pre-election pledge to keep such institutions above partisan interests.Within five months of taking office the government had begun placing BNP leaders and activists in constitutional, statutory, autonomous and government bodies, Jamaat Secretary General Mia Golam Porwar said while speaking at a press conference in Dhaka.The appointments mirrored the politicisation seen during the Awami League’s tenure, Porwar alleged, adding, “Only the names have changed; the character has not.”He also said that the government was appointing BNP leaders and activists to city corporations, district councils, development authorities and autonomous bodies instead of holding local government elections.Although the BNP’s slogan is ‘Bangladesh First’, its actions suggest ‘BNP First’ has become the priority,” he said.
Porwar also criticised the contractual appointment of Shamsul Alam as an additional secretary at the Election Commission Secretariat, alleging he had previously been involved with BNP activities and had served on a parliamentary constituency delimitation committee led by BNP Standing Committee member Nazrul Islam Khan.
Describing the Election Commission as a highly sensitive constitutional institution, he said appointing a person associated with BNP politics to a key position at the EC Secretariat ahead of local government elections could undermine confidence in the polls.Can the reappointment of a 67-year-old person associated with BNP politics to such a sensitive institution be acceptable in any way?” he asked.
Demanding Shamsul’s immediate removal, Porwar said opposition parties might have to re-think participating in the local government elections if the appointment remained.He also demanded the cancellation of all politically motivated appointments and said Jamaat would continue its political programme, send a delegation to the Election Commission and announce further programmes if the government did not reverse its course.
