Members of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) join in a human-chain protest to mark the International Human Rights Day, demanding the release of BNP activists who were arrested, ahead of the twelfth national election, in front of the National Press Club in Dhaka, Bangladesh, December 10, 2023. REUTERS/Mohammad Ponir Hossain/File Photo
DHAKA (Reuters) - Bangladesh's main opposition party urged voters on Wednesday to boycott next year's general election, reiterating demands for Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to step down or else risk what it called a "one-sided dummy election".
With its top leaders either jailed or in the exile, the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) has been calling for Hasina to resign and for a neutral authority to replace the government and oversee the Jan. 7 polls, which the BNP is not contesting.
Hasina, who is seeking her fourth consecutive term, has repeatedly rejected the opposition's calls to step down and has blamed the BNP for instigating the anti-government protests that have rocked Dhaka since late October and in which at least 10 people have been killed.
"Boycott the dummy election on January 7. Don't participate in the monkey game on January 7," the BNP's Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi told an online press briefing. "None of you will go to the polling station. This is your democratic right."
Rizvi also called on government employees - especially those involved in organising the election - to quit and for all services, including banking and the judicial system, to be halted. "Suspend all taxes, fees, utility bills and other payables to the government," he said.
Rights groups have accused the government of targeting opposition leaders and supporters. The government denies the accusations but faces pressure from Western nations to hold free, fair and participatory elections.
(Reporting by Ruma Paul; editing by Miral Fahmy)
