On Saturday, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said that vested interests were working to undermine the nation’s democracy solely for their own financial advantage.
“They (vested quarters) are trying to destroy the country’s democratic system for their own gains,” she said. “Those who are saying this get some attention during emergency and military regimes. They (vested quarters) are constantly claiming that there is no democracy in the country.
The Prime Minister made the comments when introducing the AL National Committee, which was made up of the presidents and secretaries of 78 organizing districts and members of the central AL committee, at her official house Ganabhaban.
She asserted that AL was the only one who could protect the people’s democratic rights.
Let me inquire of them as to where the lack of democracy is.
Hasina, who is also the leader of the ruling AL, claimed that these vested interests believe that electoral fraud, terrorism, and militancy—which were all common practices under the BNP-Jamaat regime—are synonymous with democracy.
She declared, “I think the biggest strength is the power of the people; the biggest strength is the faith and confidence of the people.
Since the AL has been in power for 14 years and the democratic process is still in place, she claimed, Bangladesh has made enormous progress and is recognized as a global role model for development.
She said, “I don’t know people looking for democracy must have binoculars in their eyes, but let me ask them one question, where was the democracy in the country save for the three and a half years of the Father of the Nation and other years during AL government.
She claimed that throughout the administrations of Ziaur Rahman, HM Ershad, and Khaleda Zia, all authorities were imprisoned in the cantonment.
Where was democracy or the sovereignty of the people if the nation was being run from a cantonment, she questioned?
According to the prime minister, the administration is governing the nation in the spirit of the Liberation War, which has allowed it to make significant advancements.
“Bangladesh, which was involved in terrorism, starvation, corruption, and was a nation of mischief, is now a nation of democracy and growth,” she remarked.
She said that because the AL government has been in power for 14 years straight, it has been able to bring about these significant improvements.
Every time AL takes office, the country’s citizens see positive developments, she claimed.
Hasina claimed that her party consistently upholds the rule of law.
Zia had created a culture of lawlessness in the nation, which we eliminated to create a culture of justice, the woman claimed.
