The New Nation - Internet Edition

UNB, Dhaka

Acting Awami League president Zillur Rahman has asked the party men to get united to resist the government move to hold upazila polls ahead of national election.

"Get united. We will not allow the government to hold the upazila elections before the parliamentary polls. The caretaker interim government is doing things which are not supposed to be done by it," Zillur said while addressing a joint meeting of North and South city units of Juba League at the Engineers Institution yesterday afternoon.

With Mohiuddin Mahi, president of Juba League South city unit, in the chair the meeting was addressed, among others, by AL leaders Amir Hossain Amu, Syeda Sajeda Chowdhury, Tofail Ahmed, Suranjit Sen Gupta, Begum Matia Chowdhury, Advocate Kamrul Islam and Juba League leader Dr Mizanur Rahman.

Zillur Rahman said the caretaker government was supposed to hold the national election within three months and hand over power to the elected government. But instead of doing that the government was engaged in elections to the local bodies, which is not its responsibility.

Amir Hossain Amu said upazila elections before the long-awaited parliamentary poll will not be acceptable to the people. He was critical of the government for its move to ban student politics.

Sajeda Chowdhury and others demanded lifting of emergency by this month with a threat of tough programme. They viewed that no election could be free and fair under the emergency rules.

The AL leaders also demanded release of all the political detainees including the party chief Sheikh Hasina.