AL to move against rebels soon

The ruling Awami League says it will soon take ‘harsh’ action against rebel candidates.

The party made the statement at a press conference in Dhaka and it was reiterated by the party’s general secretary Obaidul Quader during a stop-over in Feni.

Despite warnings from the party, Awami League leaders are still running as independent candidates from at least a dozen-and-a-half constituencies in the 11th parliamentary election. In some cases the supporters of these factions have clashed.

“Just you wait, we will take speedy action against them,” Quader said in response to questions from reporters during a rest-stop in Feni’s Dagonbhuiyan on the way to his constituency in Noakhali’s Companyganj on Saturday.  

“There are no rebel candidates in the Awami League,” said the party’s Joint General Secretary Jahangir Kabir Nanak at a press conference in Dhaka.

“There are, however, some candidates who we have told to stand aside by the press conference on Dec 17 and will have to work for the candidates from the Awami League and the other candidates from the Grand Alliance.”

“Otherwise we will take harsh action on behalf of the party,” he said.

 He also accused the BNP of spreading propaganda during the election campaign.

“Rizvi (the BNP senior joint secretary general) rambles incoherently, telling shameless lies. It has gotten to such a point that even Satan himself would be ashamed.”

“You can see the kinds of shameful opinions he expresses about the great Rabindranath Tagore and our national poet Kazi Nazrul Islam. Those who are habitual liars have a hard time returning to the path of honesty.

The BNP’s ‘spreading of lies’ are attempts to block a proper election, he said.

Asked about allegations that BNP activists and leaders were being blocked from campaigning, Nanak said:

“This is an old habit of the BNP. They will continue spreading lies until 5pm on election day.”