PR system means ‘permanent restlessness’: BNP’s Salahuddin
BNP Standing Committee member Salahuddin Ahmed today referred to the proportional representation (PR) system as "permanent restlessness" that would destabilise Bangladesh.
Speaking at a seminar at the Supreme Court Auditorium in Dhaka, he said that accepting demands outside the constitution would harm national stability.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. Jamaat-e-Islami and several other parties have been pushing for PR in the upcoming national election, slated for early February.
Citing examples from abroad, Salahuddin said governments under PR often took a year to form, only to collapse within months.
The BNP leader said the main purpose of introducing the PR system is not just to increase the number of parliamentary seats, but to create "frequent political instability".
"The groups who want the country to stay uncertain all the time will benefit from this," he said.
"The voting method is clearly mentioned in the constitution. The constitution mandates the election of public representatives through direct votes," he added.
The BNP leader also criticised surveys on PR, arguing they mislead the public as many do not understand the system.
In one survey, 56 percent of people were found not to understand PR, while another survey claimed that 70 percent want it, which is misleading the people, he added.
On Sunday, consultancy firm Innovision Consulting's survey said that about 56 percent of people have no idea about the PR system in parliament's upper house.
Earlier, on August 12, a Shushashoner Jonno Nagorik (Shujan) survey found that 71 percent favour the PR system in the upper house.
Salahuddin also said that if people cannot know in advance which candidate will be elected by their vote, then their direct democratic participation is lost.
"We voted in Sandwip and we got an MP in the Maldives -- that is what PR would be like," he said.
Salahuddin cautioned that PR could produce another "fascist or weak government like Sheikh Hasina's", leaving the country unstable.
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