Polls must be held on time: PM

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina today categorically said the polls must be held in Bangladesh on time, brushing aside confusions about the next general elections.

“The Election Commission is taking preparation for the next polls and it will be held as per the commission’s schedule . . . I believe the election will surely be held,” she told a crowded press conference at Ganabhaban here this afternoon, BSS reported.

The premier said certain quarter was deliberately creatingthe confusion so the democratic continuity was disrupted in the country.

“The absence of democracy may create some scopes for them (who are creating the confusion,” she told the press conference arranged to brief the media about the prime minister’s just-concluded Saudi Arabia visit.

Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader and Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali were present on the dais with the premier, while PM”s Press Secretary Ihsanul Karim moderated it.

Sheikh Hasina said the Election Commission “is independent and they are taking preparation for the next polls independently and the government has no role in this regard”.

“We want free and fair elections be staged in Bangladesh and I believe that elections will be held Insha Allah,” she said.

Sheikh Hasina, however, said conspiracies appeared as a phenomenon in Bangladesh politics and “such plots are hatched in Bangladesh frequently” and feared the trend to exist and continue as well.

“But we’ll be able to hold election by thwarting all conspiracies . . . I don’t know what is your opinion about it, but the Awami League and the government have the strength to face any plots,” she said.

Sheikh Hasina said she believed on peoples strength and “I think the people have confidence and trust in me”.

The premier said her government is advancing the country socioeconomically by facing everything. “We’re moving ahead as the people are our strength and we believe in that strength,” she said.