Online Desk :

Awami League (AL) General Secretary and Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader today said BNP is the master of corruption and looting.

“If you list the corrupt, the names of BNP leaders will come first,” he told a press conference at the AL President’s Dhanmondi political office in the capital.

Asked about BNP’s statement that it would list those who have been involved in corruption like former army chief Aziz Ahmed and former inspector general of police Benazir Ahmed, Quader said if the list is prepared, the names of the BNP leaders should be noted down first.

“Because, they (BNP) are the master of corruption and looting. The names of BNP leaders will come first and then the names of others will be found in the list,” he said.

Responding to the BNP’s claim that the Awami League cannot avoid the responsibility of Aziz and Benazir, the AL general secretary said BNP secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir has been holding the post of BNP secretary general for many years, violating the party’s constitution.

“BNP does not practice democracy within the party. How will they establish democracy in the country?” he said.

Quader said democracy is not perfect anywhere in the world. “We do not claim that our democracy is perfect but we are trying to make it perfect. Our Prime Minister (Sheikh Hasina) is sincere about it,” he added.

He said today BNP talks about multi-party democracy but its democracy was the democracy of curfew.

The BNP held the “Yes/No vote” with 114 percent voter turnout, while it listed 1.23 crore fake voters, he said, adding that BNP brought democracy to the brink of destruction and made the electoral system a farce.

The BNP leaders’ talking about democracy means the devil listening to the scriptures, the AL general secretary said.

He said during the BNP’s regime, Hawa Bhaban was established as a building of corruption and looting.

“Now they talk about corruption. What kind of punishment did they give to the people who were involved in graft during the BNP period? The AL government is taking actions against the corrupt. The government has not established the culture of impunity like the BNP,” Quader said.

AL organising secretaries BM Mozammel Haque, Mirza Azam and Afzal Hossain, relief and social welfare secretary Aminul Islam Amin, education and human resources secretary Shamsunnahar Chapa, office secretary Barrister Biplab Barua, deputy office secretary Sayem Khan and Dhaka South City AL vice president Dr Dilip Roy were present, among others.