BNP Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi on Saturday said holding local government elections earlier than parliamentary polls signifies a lack of trust in politicians.

Demanding that the general election must be held first for the formation of a democratic government, he said, “We hope this government will return the power to the people through the parliamentary election. And this is the key responsibility of the government.”

The BNP leader made the comments at the biennial conference of Cumilla’s Meghna upazila unit BNP at Maniker Char LL Model High School ground.

Rizvi said, “I do not know the reason for the idea of holding local government elections earlier. The issue is coming to the surface as it seems such a decision has been made.

“I wanted to know the matter before – do you [the government] not have faith in those political parties who waged a movement for democracy and were subjected to oppression by Sheikh Hasina?”

He said Hasina would have hanged BNP leaders and activists if she managed to remain in power, surviving the 5 August mass uprising.

“Autocratic Sheikh Hasina did not have any sense. She hardly cares for the people only to cling to power,” the BNP leader added.