Arrange training for workers to resist move to rig polls

"The party chief directed us to arrange training for the local workers so that the party can get trained polling agents in the next general elections. These agents will understand alliance governments move to rig polls," Advocate Abdus Salam, AL president of Mohanpur upazila unit of Rajshahi, told The Daily Star.

"She [Hasina] directed us to make the grassroots level leaders and workers ready for the upcoming election," Salam added.

The six-hour-long views-exchange meeting of Rajshahi's grassroots leaders with Hasina was held at the Dhanmondi party office of the AL in the capital.

Hasina told the grassroots leaders, "You [grassroots party leaders] must resist their move."

"If votes are protected then the rights of the people will be protected," Hasina said reiterating that they would not participate in any elections before reforms in the caretaker government and the Election Commission (EC) are implemented.

Grassroots leaders told Hasina to go for more vigorous movements to compel the government to accept the electoral reforms.

Urging the party leaders to work together and forget internal feuds to ensure victory in the upcoming elections, Hasina warned leaders of stern organisational actions against them if they did not work in favour of the chosen candidates.

In response, the local leaders urged Hasina to take stern action against the rebel candidates ahead of the election.

Pointing out the internal feuds in some constituencies, they also urged Hasina to take effective measurers to quell internal feud of the party and declare candidates as soon as possible to ensure a better chance of AL candidates at the polls.

In reply, Hasina assured them of taking appropriate measurers to deal with the problems and nominate candidates after examining the grassroots leaders' views of the nomination aspirants.

The AL chief said though the prime minister (PM) pledged to hike government contribution of the basic salary of teachers up to 100 percent in her electoral manifesto before the 2001 election, the PM did not fulfil that pledge.

The prime minister has hardly extended any facilities to the teachers leaving them no other way but to take to the streets and go for hunger strikes during the last four and a half years.

"The government has fired over 2000 teachers on political grounds," the AL president said adding that the teachers who build the nation have been harassed, tortured and even implicated in false cases by the government.

Hasina said though teachers of non-government primary and secondary schools, madrasas and colleges have been demonstrating for better wages and nationalisation of their jobs for the last six months, the government did not pay any heed to the teachers' demands. The opposition leader urged the government to accept the teachers' demands.

Hasina said the alliance government assumed power through vote rigging in the 2001 elections and has put the country on the verge of ruin through wide scale corruption, politicisation in all the sectors and mismanagement.