DHAKA, Bangladesh: The Bangladeshi opposition party tipped to win next week’s parliamentary election unveiled its manifesto on Friday, pledging to build a “humane and prosperous Bangladesh” under the guiding principle of ‘Bangladesh First’, reported German Press Agency (dpa).
The chairman of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), Tarique Rahman, launched the 52-point plan at an event in Dhaka.
The BNP was founded in the late 1970s by Rahman’s father, former president Ziaur Rahman, who was assassinated in 1981.
It was run for many years by his mother, former prime minister Khaleda Zia. Rahman, 60, took over after her death in November.
Rahman said that if elected, his party would focus on eliminating corruption, strengthening accountability and the rule of law.
“The plans we have discussed will not materialise unless we can fight corruption, uphold the rule of law and ensure accountability at all levels,” he told the crowded event, which was attended by politicians, civil society members and foreign diplomats.
Rahman is poised to become the next leader of Bangladesh, a South Asian nation of over 170 million people which has been frequently battered by political turmoil.
Thursday’s election will be the first since a violent uprising ousted former prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, in August 2024, ending her 15-year rule.
The BNP is considered the forerunner as its main rival, Hasina’s Awami League party, has been excluded from the polls. The interim administration of Nobel laureate, Muhammad Yunus, banned the party’s activities in May.
Hasina, now exiled in India, was sentenced to death in absentia in November for the violent suppression of the 2024 uprising, which left an estimated 1,400 people dead according to the United Nations. – BERNAMA-DPA
