Conflict between BNP and Jamaat over PR Method Election: Salahuddin claims it’s a plot to delay elections

Staff Correspondent

A verbal dispute has surfaced between the BNP and Jamaat over the demand for proportional representation (PR) elections. Jamaat, along with Islami Andolan, has made the same demand, while BNP Standing Committee Member Salahuddin Ahmed has spoken out strongly against this system.

On Sunday, June 28, at an event held at the International Mother Language Institute for the unveiling of the Ziaur Rahman Memorial Book and Archive, Salahuddin Ahmed addressed the issue.

Referring to Jamaat, he said those advocating for PR elections and local government elections aim to delay the national elections. He warned that such a system would make the elections complex and non-transparent, leaving citizens unable to identify their elected representatives or communicate their demands effectively.

He further emphasized that members of the upcoming National Parliament hold the right to amend the constitution. According to him, the constitution is not a static scripture but can be revised by each parliament based on circumstances.

Salahuddin criticized the concept of completely overhauling the constitution at once, as done during the Awami League’s tenure, and instead advocated for gradual amendments.

Meanwhile, at a grand rally organized by Islami Andolan at Suhrawardy Udyan on Saturday, Jamaat-e-Islami Secretary General Professor Mia Golam Parwar expressed explicit support for the PR system.

He stated that without PR, people would lose faith in elections in Bangladesh, asserting that elections must be held under the PR system.

On the same day, Gano Odhikar Parishad President Nurul Haque Nur and Islami Andolan Amir Mufti Syed Muhammad Rezaul Karim also voiced agreement on the matter.

They claimed that implementing the PR system would curb autocracy and strengthen the unity of Islamists, reflecting the public’s firm aspiration for such a system.