The Bangladesh nationalist parties BNP on Sunday December 24 announced a three-day mass contact and leaflet distribution programme beginning from Tuesday December 26 to drum up public in support in favour of the party’s call for boycotting the upcoming 12th national election billed for January 7.

Bangladesh nationalist party BNP Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi announced the fresh programme at a virtual press briefing.

“A mass contact and leaflet distribution programme will be observed across the country for three days on December 26, 27 and 28. I announce this programme in favour (our call for) boycotting the election and continuing the non-cooperation movement,” Rizvi said.

BNP’s like-minded parties also announced a similar programme three hours before the end of their nationwide road, rail and waterway blockade across the Bangladesh.

The opposition enforced a daylong road-rail-waterways blockade at 6m on Sunday December 24 to protest the schedule for the next national election announced by the Election Commission (EC).

It was the 12th such blockade programme called by the opposition parties since October 31, and the first since the announcement of BNP’s non-cooperation movement against the government on December 20.

BNP along with nearly three dozen opposition political parties have been carrying out a simultaneous movement since December 10 last year to force the current government to quit and hold the 12th parliamentary election under a non-party neutral administration.

BNP’s movement lost its momentum following clashes with law enforcers centring the party’s grand rally on October 28 as many senior leaders, including its secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, were arrested while many others went into hiding in the face of a crackdown by the law enforcers.

However, BNP and like-minded parties enforced countrywide blockades for 22 days in 11 phases and hartals for five days in four spells since October 29.

Finally, the opposition party came up with the call for a non-cooperation movement on December 20.