BNP ‘thanks’ Yunus for election-day referendum

The Bangladesh Nationalist Party has expressed gratitude to Chief Advisor Mohammad Yunus for deciding to hold the July Charter referendum on the same day as the next parliamentary election in February.

This marks the first formal response from the party following a three-hour-long meeting of its Standing Committee at the BNP chairperson’s office in Gulshan on Thursday night.

BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir briefed the media after the meeting.

“The BNP Standing Committee meeting, chaired by Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman, has thanked the chief adviser for reaffirming the parliamentary election schedule in February and announcing a referendum on the same day of the election,” he said.

Earlier in the afternoon, Yunus in a televised address to the nation announced the decision to simultaneously hold the referendum and polls.

The BNP also urged the government and the EC to hold the national election as soon as possible and organise the referendum to take consent from the people on the implementation of the July National Charter, which was signed on Oct 17 based on national consensus, said Fakhrul.