BNP Chairman Tarique Rahman has pledged a zero-tolerance stance against corruption and vowed to strengthen public security if his party is voted to power through the 13th parliamentary election.
“We want to make it very clear that corruption is a crime. No matter who commits corruption, the law will apply equally. InshAllah, no one will be spared,” he said while addressing a big election rally at the Polo Ground in Chittagong on Sunday.
The BNP Chairman said that tackling corruption and ensuring public security are our commitments to the people of this country.
He said the BNP will make Chattogram the country’s commercial capital if elected, completing an initiative first taken during the party’s last tenure but left unfinished.
He said the BNP has proved in the past that it can control corruption, recalling how the Khaleda Zia government succeeded after coming to power in 2001.
“When BNP was in office, you saw that even some of our own party leaders who engaged in wrongdoing did not get exemption,” the BNP leader added.
Tarique said Chattogram carries historical, emotional and economic significance, and many people have long demanded the declaration of the city as the country’s commercial capital.
“That initiative was taken by Begum Khaleda Zia, but could not be fully completed due to lack of time. If BNP forms the next government, the initiative will be implemented as quickly as possible,” he said.
Tarique said such a move will create large employment opportunities, strengthen trade and boost economic activities not only in Chattogram but across the country.
Introducing BNP candidates from Chattogram, Cox’s Bazar and the Chattogram Hill Tracts, Tarique called upon voters to place their trust in the party’s election symbol, the ‘sheaf of paddy’.
“We want to build an expected Bangladesh with everyone — whether from hills or plains, Muslim or another religion,” he said.
Through the large gathering, Tarique appealed to voters in the wider region to trust the BNP and its party symbol, saying that those who believe in democracy, free speech and citizens’ rights should support the party.
“InshAllah, if BNP is elected, we will together build Bangladesh for working people, just like we did in the past,” he added, repeating his slogan: “Korbo kaj, gorbo desh, Shobar Aage Bangladesh” (We shall work, we shall build the country, Bangladesh before everything).
MSH
