The country’s main opposition political party - Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) - is making robust preparations to join the next general elections slated to be held by January 2019, according to party insiders.

The party thinks the overall situation does not favour the ruling Bangladesh Awami League (AL) this time, unlike thelast elections.

Party insiders said the party, against this backdrop, is pressing home the demand for installing a neutral election-time government - no matter what it’s called.

Several senior BNP leaders told this correspondent that they think the Supreme Court verdict on the 16th constitutional amendment has come as a big blow to the ruling party.

The observations given by the country’s top judges in the verdict have lent credence to the BNP’s long-standing demand for a neutral poll-time administration to ensure a fair general election.

“We think, the 16th amendment verdict has questioned the legality of the incumbent government. Any civilised government would resign after such a verdict,” BNP secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir told Prothom Alo.

“Unless the National Parliamentary Election is held impartially and independently free from any interference, the democracy cannot flourish. In the absence of credible election, a credible Parliament cannot be established. As a result, our election process and the Parliament remain in infancy,” said chief justice Surendra Kumar Sinha in the 16th amendment verdict.

“This court noticed that in every national election, the political party which lost the election questioned the impartiality of the election and the opposition party did not co-operate in the Parliament. Ultimately in the 10th Parliamentary election, one of the big political parties did not participate.

“This court was of the view that the government shall strengthen the Election Commission with all powers for holding a free and fair Parliamentary election and that there will be automatic filling up of the vacancies of the Election Commission without the intervention of the government. None of the succeeding governments took any step in this regard.

“Even the opposition political party has not also raised this point either in the Parliament or in any forum with the net result that the Election Commission has not been institutionalized as yet.

“The people cannot repose trust upon these two institutions and if these institutions are not institutionalized to gain public confidence and respect, no credible election can be held.

“In the absence of a free and fair election the Parliament cannot be constituted with wise politicians and this may impede institutionalization of the Parliament itself. If the Parliament is not matured enough, it would be a suicidal attempt to give the Parliament the power of removal of Judges of the higher judiciary,” read the 16th amendment verdict.

The BNP sees this verdict as a very significant one in various respects and thinks the AL would not be able to stage an election like that of 5-January this time around.

And BNP policymakers are also devising plans as to what they should do if a neutral, election-conducive government is eventually not installed.

According to many BNP leaders, BNP’s decision to boycott the 5-January election was wrong.

So, many of them don’t want a recurrence of such a boycott. Although BNP chief Khaleda Zia, on a number of occasions, said no elections will be held under AL president Sheikh Hasina and that the BNP will not go for any elections keeping the incumbent government in place.

BNP leaders think that, as in the 5 January, 2014 elections, the AL government is hatching a plan to keep the BNP out of the polls and to that end, they think, an effort is underway to keep the BNP under pressure and to incite divisions inside the party.

BNP leaders think that recent moves to float different alliances is part of that effort so that the anti-government vote-bank splits and thus doesn’t go to the BNP.

The BNP is preparing to join the polls, taking all these government plans into consideration.

When asked, BNP secretary general Mirza Fakhrul said, “BNP will of course join the polls and we are making necessary preparations to that end. But we think a free and fair election is not possible without a neutral election-time government.

BNP leaders said all of their focus is not centred on the next elections.

The party has launched a member collection drive, is making arrangements for joining the election commission dialogue, and is preparing a framework for an election-conducive government, he said.

The party will also finalise its roadmap for the next general elections in next December.

Party insiders said the party is reorganising its district units with the next elections in mind. Either full or partial committees have been declared for 50 out of 75 organisational district units across the country.

The rest of the units will get new committees shortly after the return of BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia from the United Kingdom. She is scheduled to return in mid-September.

Party insiders said incidents of abduction, forced disappearances, killing, rape, corruption, and other social wrongdoings are increasing day by day, apart from the price hike of essential commodities, as well as utilities like oil, gas, and electricity.

They said the country’s economic state has been in a shambles like that of its shabby roads and highways. And if the current situation continues to persist, the government will fall into further trouble, which will eventually affect the ruling party adversely during the general elections.

Against this backdrop, all the activities of the party are centred on the next general elections.

Contacted, Dhaka University’s former vice chancellor, known to be a pro-BNP academic, said, “So far as I know, the BNP is now organised and in a much better position than what I knew three to four months ago.”

*The article, originally published in Prothom Alo print edition, is rewritten by Abu Taib Ahmed.