‘Sheikh Hasina will not influence the people’s mandate even if she loses’

Staff Correspondent :   AL general secretary Obaidul QuaderRuling Bangladesh Awami League (AL) general secretary Obaidul Quader has said AL president and prime minister Sheikh Hasina would not influence the election to be held under her leadership even if she loses.

“I know very well that the prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, will not influence the people’s mandate even if she loses. She doesn’t have a desire to forcibly cling to the state power,” Quader was addressing a discussion on the Dhaka University campus on Friday.

The discussion was organised at Teacher Student Centre marking the golden jubilee of the DU’s Masterda Surya Sen Hall.

The AL leader also claimed that the election commission will be provided all sorts of assistance to hold a free and fair general election if Sheikh Hasina supervises the election.

The AL-led ninth parliament scrapped the provision of neutral poll-time government through the 15th amendment to the constitution in 2011.

As BNP and other opposition parties boycotted the controversial 5 January 2014 elections in protest against the constitutional amendment, the ballot saw the election of as much as 153 MPs uncontested.

And the next elections will also be held under Sheikh Hasina’s supervision unless the constitution is amended further.

Dwelling on the type of poll-time government, Quader said, “The ruling party stays in power during the general election in almost all the countries around the world.”

He said many are now raising questions whether a free and fair election is at all possible under the new election commission. “I can say unreservedly that next elections will be free and fair.”