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 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.
