'People mandated upper house based on vote share'

The 11-party alliance has claimed that the people of Bangladesh have delivered a clear mandate in favour of allocating 100 seats in the proposed upper house of parliament in proportion to vote share, following the outcome of the recent referendum.

Speaking to reporters after a meeting of the alliance on Saturday (February 14), the alliance spokesperson Hamidur Rahman Azad said the overwhelming victory of the “Yes” vote reflected the public’s decisive verdict on the issue.

He said that since the “Yes” option had won by a large margin, any note of dissent now carried no political or moral weight. “Any attempt to undermine this outcome would amount to disregarding the people’s verdict,” he warned, urging all quarters to refrain from such moves.

Azad also cautioned that if attacks and violence against political activists continued, the alliance would be compelled to take to the streets. He said Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami would confront such situations through political means, stressing that the alliance would not remain passive in the face of intimidation.

According to the spokesperson, the 11-party alliance will continue to work jointly, both inside and outside parliament, in the national interest. He said Jamaat-e-Islami would play a responsible role in parliament, while the alliance as a whole would pursue political movements over issues that remain unresolved through parliamentary processes.

Azad further alleged irregularities in the post-election process, claiming that in constituencies where candidates lost by narrow margins, demands for recounts were ignored by the Bangladesh Election Commission. Instead, he said, gazette notifications were issued hastily overnight.

He added that preparations were under way to file writ petitions with the High Court Division seeking recounts in those constituencies, arguing that transparency and fairness required a fresh review of the disputed results.

The alliance reiterated that it would continue to pursue its demands through constitutional and legal avenues while remaining prepared for political action if the people’s mandate was, in its view, disregarded.