DHAKA, June 1: Former prime minister and chairperson of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, Begum Khaleda Zia, on Sunday demanded general elections by October this year.

She also demanded that the state of emergency be lifted immediately and schedule for national elections be announced in June to enable all political parties to take part in contested national polls in October.

Ms Zia also urged all political parties to unite to ‘restore democratic process in the country’.

The former prime minister, now detained on three graft charges, made these statements when she was brought to the court for the first time since she was arrested on Sept 3 last year.

Standing in the dock, Khaleda made an 18-minute strongly worded extempore statement on current political and economic situations as well as about the ‘bad intentions of the government active behind cases filed against the politicians’.Terming the country’s present situation ‘very bad’, Khaleda argued that in their 16 months rule, ‘the incumbents have pushed back the country by 28 years’.

“People are starving, committing suicide … students keeping aside their studies are standing in queue at BDR outlets to get rice…trade and business have slowed down …the country is losing labour markets abroad, while city dwellers are suffering from acute shortage of water, gas and electricity supplies…but the government has no attention towards all these problems,”said Khaleda Zia. “Instead, the government is busy repressing political leaders and activists.”

“How does a (caretaker) government with three-month tenure is in power for an unlimited period?”, Khaleda posed the question. “Lift the emergency immediately, announce schedule for general election in June so that election can be held by October (this year), she said.

Khaleda observed that the ‘incumbents are out to make the country dysfunctional’ and warned them that ‘they will have stand in the dock for the conspiracy’.

“I am in jail for nine months now. I had waged movement for nine years against autocratic government (of General H M Ershad in the 1980s) for restoring democracy in the country,’ she said adding, ‘Only Allah knows, what consequences they will face’.

In this regard Khaleda zia urged ‘all political parties, including the nationalist forces to unite to restoring democratic process’.

Ms Zia claimed that corruption cases filed against her and family members were concocted and malicious. “Not only against me, cases were filed against my family members for harassment… we didn’t commit any wrong, but we are being implicated in corruption charges.”

She demanded an ‘open trial of the cases under existing law, instead of what she called ‘camera trial’.

Ms Zia said that although it is being claimed that the judiciary has become independent, the ‘judges are functioning on dictations’. “Where is the independence of the judiciary?” She, however, urged the court to give judgment in the case independently.

The BNP chairperson also demanded withdrawal of all false cases filed against politicians.

As Khaleda made the statement chief public prosecutor Anisul Huq requested the court to ensure that political statement cannot be delivered in the court. Former law minister Maudud Ahmed, a co-accused in the case, asked the public prosecutor as to why the politicians were then arrested and produced before the court?

‘It is a political case,’ said Barrister Moudud.

Judge Khandaker Kamal Uzzaman set June 8 for charge hearing in the Niko graft case as defence lawyers prayed for time on the plea that they could not yet browse the FIR and charge sheet in the case. The Anti-Corruption Commission filed a total of three cases against Khaleda on charges of corruption.