The New Nation - Internet Edition

Bdnews24.com, Dhaka

Former BNP lawmakers yesterday voiced their demand for the release of party chairperson Khaleda Zia and other detained leaders to ensure what they said was the credibility of the upcoming national polls.

Speaking on behalf of 126 former BNP lawmakers in a press briefing, the party's joint secretary-general Selima Rahman also called for immediate talks with the caretaker administration.

The former MPs also pressed for the withdrawal of "motivated and false graft cases" filed by the Anticorruption Commission against BNP senior joint secretary-general Tarique Rahman and his wife and mother-in-law.

"We are regularly and officially notifying the government of our demands," Selima told reporters at BNP secretary-general Khandakar Delwar Hossain's home in the city.

"We will consider adopting other measures when the secretary-general returns home if the government proves unwilling to cooperate," she said.

The joint secretary-general alleged the caretaker administration was attempting to "destroy the Zia family" instead of rooting out legitimate cases of corruption.

"We want to see democracy re-established through fair elections, but the government must first free our party chairperson in a dignified way," she said.