Staff Correspondent:

BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir has claimed that his party never advocated for “election first, reforms later.”

“The BNP never called for elections before reforms. If anyone claims this, they are misinterpreting and misleading the public,” he said during a meeting with journalists at his residence in Thakurgaon’s Tatipara on Wednesday (April 2).

“We [BNP] said the minimum reforms necessary to ensure free and fair elections must be implemented. The BNP first demanded these reforms,” Fakhrul added.

Claiming that the BNP is being targeted, the party’s secretary general said, “There is propaganda targeting the BNP on social media claiming that the party wants elections first, then reforms, or that the BNP doesn’t want reforms but wants elections – which is completely false.”

“I want to directly state that this is creating misconceptions among the public,” he said.

Addressing various political parties, the BNP leader said, “Political parties have relationships with the people, regardless of which party it is. We respect and honour those who have come for reforms.”

“However, if they do anything outside the interests of the people, BNP will not support it,” he added.

Fakhrul said, “Democracy is the best system for running a state. If any political party becomes authoritarian after coming to power, the people will remove them. The real proof of this is the Awami League.”

District BNP Co-Chairman Obaidullah Masud, Joint General Secretary Paygam Ali, and Finance Secretary Shariful Islam Sharif, among others, were present at the event.