Tarique, Shafique For Monday: Party leaders’ speeches on BTV scheduled

Staff Reporter:

After one and a half decades, leaders of various political parties are getting the opportunity to address the nation on Bangladesh Television (BTV).

On the occasion of the 13th National Parliamentary Election, the state-run broadcaster will begin airing election speeches from today (Sunday), allowing political parties to seek votes through BTV. Speeches by top political leaders will be broadcast. So far, four senior leaders from four political parties have formally requested airtime, and BTV has allocated slots for them.

A source at BTV told journalists that on 8 February (Sunday), the speech of Mamunul Haque, Ameer of Bangladesh Khelafat Majlis, will be aired between 6:00 pm and 7:00 pm, followed by the speech of Nahid Islam, Convenor of the National Citizen Party (NCP), between 7:00 pm and 8:00 pm.

On the following day, 9 February (Monday), the speech of Dr Shafiqur Rahman, Ameer of Jamaat-e-Islami, is scheduled to be broadcast between 6:00 pm and 7:00 pm, while the speech of Tarique Rahman, Chairman of the BNP, will be aired between 7:00 pm and 8:00 pm.

A BTV official said that apart from these four parties, no other political party has yet submitted a written request for broadcasting their leader’s speech on BTV. If letters are received from other parties, they will be considered.

After the announcement of the election schedule, political party leaders’ speeches have been broadcast on BTV in the past as well. During the military-backed caretaker government in 2008, speeches by top political leaders were aired on BTV. However, in the last three national elections, such speeches by party leaders were not broadcast on the state-run television network.