Salahuddin Ahmed calls pre-election referendum an attempt to delay polls

Salahuddin Ahmed, a member of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) Standing Committee, has described the demand for a referendum before the national parliamentary election as an attempt to delay the polls.

He made the remarks on Monday at a discussion titled “Challenges and Possibilities to Make the Upcoming Election Acceptable”, organized by the Citizen Youth Unity at the National Press Club.

Salahuddin said that by amending the Representation of the People Order (RPO), a national referendum could be held on the same day as the general election. He added that attempts by certain groups to destabilize the country pose the government’s main challenge in ensuring a free and fair election.

On the Awami League, he noted that a strong anti-fascist national unity would prevent any future rise of fascist forces.

Addressing the issue of banning political parties through executive orders, the BNP leader stated that when the Awami League previously banned Jamaat-e-Islami politics, BNP was the first to protest. He emphasized that the party would not accept any political party being banned through executive orders today.

Earlier, on Sunday, Professor Ali Riaz, Vice-Chairman of the National Unity Commission, said political parties had agreed to hold a referendum to secure public participation and consent in implementing the National Charter 2025.

The proposal to hold a referendum on the national election day was put forward by Salahuddin Ahmed. While several parties supported the BNP proposal, Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami and the National Citizens’ Party (NCP) opposed it, calling instead for the legal framework of the charter to be established before the election.