National Citizen Party (NCP) spokesperson Asif Mahmud Shojib Bhuiyan has warned that the party will go to court and take to the streets if dual citizens or loan defaulters are allowed to contest the upcoming 13th Jatiya Sangsad elections.
He delivered the warning at a press conference at the party’s temporary central office in Bangla Motor on Saturday evening.
Asif Mahmud, who chairs the NCP’s Central Election Steering Committee, said the constitution and the RPO make it clear that dual citizens are ineligible to run. “Yet we are seeing people with dual citizenship crowding the Election Commission with large groups, trying to apply pressure. And we also see signs that the Commission may legitimise them through loopholes and loose interpretations. This is harmful for the constitution, the electoral process and democracy,” he said.
He accused the BNP of calling itself democratic while nominating individuals who, he claimed, had taken foreign citizenship, amassed assets abroad and were now attempting to return only to enter parliament. “If you want to be the people’s representatives, be Bangladeshi in the true sense. We will not allow foreign citizens to contest elections here,” he said.
He warned that any move by the Election Commission to approve such candidates would trigger both legal action and street protests.
Despite earlier cooperation with the Commission, he said recent discussions about allowing dual citizens to contest through affidavits were unacceptable. “If tomorrow we see that any loan defaulter or dual citizen is cleared, under any condition or interpretation, we will protest and continue our legal battle. We will not accept another one-sided, staged election,” he said.
He criticised past ruling parties for nominating loan defaulters, including individuals who owe hundreds of crores to multiple banks. “This money belongs to the people. Without paying it back, they keep contesting elections or live comfortably abroad,” he said.
Asif Mahmud said 47 NCP candidates had submitted nomination papers and all but one had been validated. “This shows the NCP is different from the so-called democratic but corrupt parties. The public will see that difference,” he said.
Calling the NCP a party born out of the July mass uprising, he vowed resistance against attempts to push ineligible candidates into the race. “If anyone tries to gain legitimacy by manipulating the Election Commission, they will face resistance on the streets and in the courts. We will not allow such candidates to run as representatives of the people,” he said.