Dhaka: BNP secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on Thursday said people will not accept if the next general election is held without resolving the ‘ongoing political crisis’.

‘Resolve the crisis first, and then arrange the election. If the election is held without solving the problem, it’ll be the 2014-like one. The country’s people won’t accept such polls,’ he said, reports the UNB.

The BNP leader came up with the remarks while speaking at a discussion arranged by a faction of Bangladesh Federal Union of Journalists (BFUJ) and Dhaka Union of Journalists (DUJ) at the Jatiya Press Club, marking the World Press Freedom Day.

Fakhrul said their party wants to join the next general election, but it has to be held under a non-party neutral election-time government.

He also set some conditions, including the release of their chairperson Khaleda Zia from jail, dissolution of parliament, resignation of the Prime Minister, deployment of army and a level-paying field for all parties, for holding the 11th parliamentary polls in a credible and neutral manner.

The BNP leader criticised the role of police in Gazipur and Khulna city corporation polls as they are arresting BNP leaders and activists and harassing them.

Describing the Election Commission as ‘spineless’, he said it cannot take any effective step to ensure a proper election atmosphere and check the violation of the election code of conduct.

Mentioning that it is not possible to ensure press freedom without democracy, Fakhrul urged all the democratic parties to forge a national unity for the ‘restoration’ of democracy through a united movement.