AB Party Chairman Mojibur Rahman Manju said the government is worsening Bangladesh’s unemployment problem rather than creating jobs. Speaking as chief guest at a discussion organised by the party’s Chattogram metropolitan unit at S Rahman Hall of Chattogram Press Club on Friday, he cited electricity and fuel shortages as factors behind factory closures and job losses.

Manju said BNP had promised opportunities for one crore educated unemployed people within its first 18 months in power. He alleged that many factories had shut over the past six months because of energy shortages, leaving hundreds of workers unemployed. He also said inconsistent remarks by senior government leaders had increased public distrust over the referendum verdict and the July Charter.

He warned that prolonged electricity and energy shortages would increase unemployment and prices, widening the gap between people’s income and expenditure. At the event, central vice-chairman and Chattogram metropolitan convenor Advocate Golam Faruk said there was no room for compromise, delay or political tactics in implementing the July Charter, describing implementation of the referendum verdict as the government’s political and moral responsibility.