<div><b><span style="font-size: 1rem;">Prime Minister and Awami League President Sheikh Hasina on Saturday said there is no global power behind the BNP-Jamaat nexus as no foreign countries take side with looters.</span><br></b></div><div><br></div><div>"They claimed they have (global power). Which power is with them? We want to know. There is no (such global) power with them. No one sides with looters," she said.</div><div><br></div><div>Sheikh Hasina made the statement while making her introductory speech in a meeting of the AL’s Central Working Committee (ALCWC) at her official residence--Ganabhaban.</div><div><br></div><div>She warned the people regarding the BNP-Jamaat clique, saying that they will just destroy the country and democracy if they return to office again.</div><div><br></div><div>"Remain cautious about BNP and Jamaat. They do&nbsp; not believe in democracy, they will not keep democracy in the country, they will push the country towards destruction," she said.</div><div><br></div><div>She requested the people to stay alert against the killers, terrorists, militants, grenade attackers, 10 trucks of firearms smugglers--BNP.</div><div><br></div><div>The PM also asked the people to remain alert against the war criminals, killers of intellectuals, rapists and looters--Jamaat.</div><div><br></div><div>Sheikh Hasina described the BNP's 1991-96 and 2001-06 regimes as the era of darkness.</div><div><br></div><div>She warned that the country will go back to the era of darkness if BNP comes to power.</div><div><br></div><div>She heavily criticised the BNP for their efforts to remove the Awami League government and bring in a caretaker government system ahead of the next election, saying that the BNP was prevented from returning to power by the people as they had come to power through vote rigging.</div><div><br></div><div>The Prime Minister said the BNP resigned from the government on May 30 in 1996 after coming to power through a farcical election on February 15 in 1996.</div><div><br></div><div>Sheikh Hasina said her party protected the country's democracy and they do not need to manipulate to return to power.</div><div><br></div><div>"The Awami League works for the welfare of the country and its people and thus wins the hearts of them. It doesn't require vote-rigging for going to power," she said.</div><div><br></div><div>The Prime Minister reiterated her call to vote for the Awami League to confirm the country's status as a developing nation by 2026.</div><div><br></div><div>Brushing aside the demand of the BNP to restore a neutral caretaker government system in Bangladesh, she questioned: "Why had Khaleda Zia rejected the system in 1996, saying that only insane people and children are neutral?"</div><div><br></div><div>"Has&nbsp; the BNP found out the insane people and children to form the caretaker government?”</div><div><br></div><div>AL General General Secretary and Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader and Deputy Leader of the House Begum Matia Chowdhury,&nbsp; Presidium Members Mosharraf Hossain, Sheikh Fazlul Karim Selim and Kazi Zafarullah were on the dais during the meeting. According to UNB reports&nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div>bnbd24/fas</div>