BNP secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on Monday said there is no other way for the government but to resign to end the political deadlock and hold a credible national election.

“Our statement is very clear…resign immediately and dissolve Parliament. If you buy time unnecessarily, the country and its people will be affected and the democracy will be damaged,” he told an anti-government rally, UNB reports.

The BNP leader called upon the current regime to take steps for establishing a polls-time neutral government for holding the next election in a credible way by forming a new Election Commission.  

“This’s the only way, there is no other way. So, do it as fast as you can. Otherwise, you won’t find a way to escape. Your time is up,” he said.

Fakhrul also warned that their party will force the government to resign through the ongoing movement by involving the people in it.

He slammed the government for what he said was continuing the arrest of BNP leaders and activists and repressing them.

“Our 386 leaders and activists were arrested in the last one month…so we have no option, but to put up a resistance against this regime,” the BNP leader said.

He urged the opposition leaders and activists to get ready for making more sacrifices to defeat the current government on the streets.

BNP’s Dhaka South city unit along with its different associate bodies organised the programme in front of the BNP’s Nayapaltan central office to protest against the arrest of the opposition leaders and activists.

Thousands of leaders and workers of the party and its different front organisations joined the programme and brought out a procession that ended after parading through Kakrail and Shantinagar intersections.

Fakhrul said Awami League has been in power by holding stage-managed elections in 2014 and 2018, resorting to repressive acts and arresting BNP leaders and activists, including party chief Khaleda Zia.

He said the country’s people want a free and fair election. “They (people) want to vote in that election. That election must be held under an impartial government. It has been proven that no election will be acceptable if Hasina is in power and her party is in government."