It is Awami League’s policy decision to not allow relatives of the party’s ministers and lawmakers to contest the upcoming upazila parishad elections, the ruling party’s General Secretary Obaidul Quader said today.
“It is a policy decision of Awami League to prevent relatives of ministers and MPs from participating in the local government elections. There is no legal issue here,” he said.
He was addressing a press briefing at the AL president’s political office in the capital’s Dhanmondi area.
Regarding not allocating party symbols in the upazila elections, Quader, also road transport and bridges minister, said, “The Awami League decided not to give party symbols in the local government elections, thinking that the polls will be more participatory and competitive if it is held in that manner. This does not mean that other parties cannot allocate symbols in the election.”
In response to a question about the arrest of US students protesting Israel’s attack on Gaza, he added, “Why don’t the officials of different countries see human rights in their own country through the same lens they do in our country?”
Obaidul Quader said the ruling party does not have any conflict with the US.
Pointing to the US criticism on Bangladesh’s human rights, the AL minister said, “They talk about our country’s human rights. We cannot talk about these things?’
While responding to another query, the minister replied that Bangladesh is not free from the influence of the world economy. “So we feel the pressure too. We are under the pressure with daily commodity prices. To deny it is to deny reality,” he added.
Awami League Organising Secretaries Abu Saeed Al Mahmud Swapan and SM Kamal Hossain, Science and Technology Affairs Secretary Abdus Sabur, Cultural Affairs Secretary Asim Kumar Ukil, Deputy Office Secretary Sayem Khan were present at the briefing among others.