BNP declares 51-point manifesto to build ‘welfare-oriented, prosperous Bangladesh’
Published :
Updated :
For all latest news, follow The Financial Express Google News channel.
BNP chief Tarique Rahman is announcing the party’s 51-point election manifesto, prioritising nine issues with the promise of “building a welfare-oriented and prosperous Bangladesh”.
The party chairman presented the manifesto at the Pan Pacific Sonargaon Hotel in Dhaka on Friday afternoon.
The 51-point BNP manifesto has detailed the party’s plans on how it will run the country if it comes to power. It notes that it plans to keep a significant number of women in the cabinet and provide annual allocations to political parties from the government.
Before the manifesto announcement, a video presentation was given highlighting the party’s commitment to running Bangladesh in the future. It highlighted the party’s goals, objectives and commitments, including the various steps it will take if it wins the election.
The manifesto announcement ceremony is being presided over by the party's Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir and moderated by the party's Central Election Steering Committee Chairman and Standing Committee Member Nazrul Islam Khan.
The ceremony is being attended by editors Shafik Rehman, Matiur Rahman, Matiur Rahman Chowdhury, as well as editors and senior journalists of various media outlets, citizens from different classes and professions, and diplomats from different countries.
Tarique, the son of BNP founder and former president Ziaur Rahman and former party chief and prime minister Khaleda Zia, is leading the party in this election. It is the first time he is announcing the party’s manifesto.
Khaleda had led the party in the fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, and ninth parliamentary elections. She had announced each of the party’s manifestoes.
The BNP-led alliance Jatiya Oikya Front had contested the 11th parliamentary election in 2018, but Khaleda was in jail at the time. BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir announced the manifesto at the Lakeshore Hotel in Dhaka’s Gulshan on Dec 18 that year.
The BNP boycotted the 10th and 12th parliamentary elections held under a Sheikh Hasina-led government.