DHAKA: BNP leaders from a rally on Saturday said the present government will have to resign before the announcement of the schedule for the next general election in late October.

The next general election will have to be held under a non-party neutral administration for restoration of democracy in the country, they added.

Party senior leaders came up with call while addressing the rally in front of the party’s Nayapaltan central office in Dhaka this afternoon marking the party’s 40th founding anniversary.

Party Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir demanded immediate and unconditional release of the party’s Chairperson Khaleda Zia and other leaders who are now behind bars in connection with “politically motivated cases”.

The current parliament must be dissolved and the army will have to be deployed during the election for creating a level playing field, he added.

Besides, the present Election Commission will have to be reconstituted for holding the next general election in a free, fair and inclusive manner, Mirza Fakhrul demanded.

Other senior leaders including BNP Standing Committee members Jamiruddin Sircar, Mirza Abbas raised the same demands while addressing the rally.

Earlier the rally started around 2pm where leaders and activists of the party’s different fronts and associate bodies from across the capital thronged with banners, festoons and placards, Banglanews correspondent reports.

Khandakar Mosharraf Hossain, Moudud Ahmed, Goyeshwar Chandra Roy and Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury, among others, spoke the programme.

BDST: 1926 HRS, SEP 01, 2018
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