Opposition Leader and Ameer of Jamaat-e-Islami Dr. Shafiqur Rahman on Wednesday alleged that a conspiracy was orchestrated to defeat 11 political parties in the 13th Parliamentary election and claimed that the interim government was also involved in the process.
"We wanted an election. But we did not want a conspiracy in the name of an election," he said while addressing a seminar titled "Spirit of the Mass Uprising, Implementation of the Referendum Verdict and Trial of the July Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity" in the capital's Kakrail.
"There was a conspiracy. We condemn it. The interim government, whose identity was that of a neutral and non-partisan administration, was also part of this conspiracy. They themselves have admitted that 11 parties were defeated through a conspiracy," he alleged.
Referring to the election process, Shafiqur said there had been "many dramas" before the national election and that two elections were held on the same day under the same order.
He said we opposition parties accepted the election results and took oath, while the ruling party took oath immediately and another delayed it before later explaining its position.
According to him, those parties accepted everything at the time only to cross the "electoral hurdle," but did not genuinely accept the process.
"If political parties or institutions deceive the nation in this way, people will eventually lose respect for politicians because they will believe their words have no value and that they forget all promises once they reach positions of power," he said.
Shafiqur said he was "astonished" to witness what he described as an admission of deception in the national parliament, adding that parliamentary proceedings become part of history.
He also referred to remarks made in parliament describing the July Charter as "an endless document of deception," alleging that those making such statements had themselves deceived the nation.
Criticising remarks questioning whether people understood four referendum questions, he said if people were capable of understanding 31 questions, they were certainly capable of understanding four.
He alleged that such comments effectively labelled the public as "foolish" and said questioning the people's judgement was contrary to democratic principles.
"If you believe in democracy, you cannot question the people's wisdom," he said.
Explaining why the opposition accepted the election results despite alleging irregularities, he said one speaker at the seminar had emphasised reconciliation, patience and protecting the nation from civil conflict.
He argued that if the 11-party alliance had rejected the results and revolted after what he described as 17 and a half years of struggle, the country could have descended into chaos.
"The 11 parties acted responsibly. But at the same time, they also made it clear that although they accepted the election results, they would never allow the verdict of the referendum to be ignored," he said.
Shafiqur also said he had received formal proposals 10 to 11 times to establish a constitutional reform commission.
Rejecting the idea, he argued that no separate commission was necessary for constitutional amendments, saying both the government and opposition have the authority to introduce amendment bills in parliament.
He said such bills should go through committee scrutiny, parliamentary debate and voting under the normal legislative process.
"The referendum was not held to create another amendment commission. It was held to transform the rotten political order of the country and uproot fascism," he said.
Shafiqur also accused the BNP of backing away from its earlier commitments on reforms.
"We want those reforms. If BNP has moved away from its promises, do you expect us to betray the nation as well? We cannot betray the nation," he said.
MSH
