Shafiqur warns of protests if election mandate is ignored

Leader of the Opposition in the parliament and Jamaat-e-Islami Ameer Shafiqur Rahman cautioned on Sunday that his party would take to the streets if the mandate of the national election is not honoured and constitutional reforms remain unimplemented.

Speaking to journalists after a meeting with leaders of the 11-party alliance at Sylhet Circuit House, he said, “If this verdict is frustrated, no sustainable social order can ever be built in this country. If parliament is curtailed, there will be no option but to take to the streets.”

Shafiqur claimed that 68.6 percent of voters had cast their ballots, making their preference clear. He said that in the days leading up to polling, the mood across the country had pointed “unmistakably in one direction.”

“But after the election, ordinary people came to us and said that we voted for you but another party formed the government – how is that? They asked us why we accepted it. There was a little resentment towards us,” he added.

He said Jamaat had entered parliament with two pledges -- one to the people and one before Allah -- promising not to abandon voters regardless of the result. He said the party declared its intention to cooperate on all good work but to protest against anything else.

Criticising the ruling party, Shafiqur accused it of breaking its pre-election promise to accept the outcome of a referendum. He argued that three referendums had been held after independence and questioned why such a process was now being dismissed as unconstitutional.

“If referendums were permissible then, how are they impermissible now?” he asked.

On border tensions, he cautioned against reacting to provocative statements, saying constant responses would lead to daily conflict.

“On the question of independence and sovereignty, there is no compromise. We may eat less and have less, that is fine. But there is no question of signing our land over to anyone,” he said.