黑料社区

DHAKA: Three days of mass rallies began in Bangladesh on Thursday as political parties seek to drum up support ahead of the anticipated first vote since the ouster of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina last year.

The country鈥檚 interim government, headed by Nobel prize winner Prof. Muhammad Yunus, has been implementing a series of reforms. And preparing for elections since taking charge in August, after Hasina fled Dhaka amid student-led protests that called for her resignation.

Yunus has said that Bangladesh could hold elections by the end of 2025 or in the first half of 2026, provided that electoral reforms take place first.

As thousands of people gathered in Dhaka for a May Day rally organized by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party on Thursday, its leaders seek to highlight the rights of Bangladeshis to a free and fair election.

The BNP鈥檚 Vice Chairman Shamsuzzaman Dudu told Arab News: 鈥淧eople were deprived of their voting rights in the last three general elections due to a fraudulent environment.

鈥淐onsidering the present context, people are optimistic that they would get the chance to exercise voting rights and eventually hand over power to their trusted political party.

鈥淚n this way, a democratic government will be reinstated in the country.鈥�

He added: 鈥淭hese expectations and dreams of the countrymen will be represented through our mass demonstration today.鈥�

鈥淲e want to see a Bangladesh, which is run through a democratic system, where people would be able to exercise and enjoy all of their due rights.鈥�

The country鈥檚 largest Islamic political party, Jamaat-e-Islami, also held a rally on Thursday.

They will be followed on Friday by a mass demonstration organized by the National Citizens Party, which was formed by the students who spearheaded the youth-led protests that overthrew Hasina.

On Saturday, Hefazat-e-Islam, a powerful Islamic organization in the country, is also expected to hold a 鈥済rand rally.鈥�

The series of political rallies are taking place a little over a year since Bangladesh鈥檚 last elections in January 2024, when Hasina won a fourth term in polls that were boycotted by the main opposition parties.

Following 15 years of uninterrupted rule, Hasina and her Awami League party had allegedly politicized key government institutions, including the Election Commission.

Bangladesh is going through a 鈥渢ransitional moment,鈥� said NCP Joint Member Secretary Saleh Uddin Sifat, highlighting that the interim government鈥檚 ongoing work is crucial to secure a better future for the country.

鈥淚f we can鈥檛 reform or overhaul the other machineries of the state, like (the) judiciary, police, constitution etc., before the election, then the next government might also be an authoritarian one because of the existence of the authoritarian elements within the state machineries,鈥� Sifat told Arab News.

Sifat is expecting a good turnout at the NCP rally on Friday, which will urge for reforms in various state institutions and demand justice for alleged crimes committed by members of the Awami League.

鈥淲e believe our next general election will not simply serve as a medium of transferring power,鈥� he said. 鈥淩ather, it will pave the way for a permanent and effective reformation of the structural issues of the country.鈥�