Contrary to BNP claims, the ruling Awami League (AL) on Monday asserted that there has been progress in holding a dialogue with the Opposition BNP after a reported meeting between two senior functionaries of the rival parties here. AL leaders said party general secretary Syed Ashraful Islam and BNP acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir had a closed-door meeting on the stalemate over the poll-time government on Saturday night. “The outcome of the meeting will be disclosed at a press briefing within a day or two,” Ashraful told reporters.
However, Fakhrul denied having had any meeting with Ashraful.
The BNP’s denial has not gone down well with the ruling party. “An informal dialogue between AL general secretary and BNP’s acting secretary general has started to resolve the political crisis, but the Opposition leaders are now denying the veracity of the talks. The BNP is staging a drama over the issue in a bid to stay away from participating in the forthcoming election,” said AL presidium member Mohammad Nasim. He made the comment at a press conference at party chief Sheikh Hasina’s Dhanmondi political office following a meeting with the AL’s alliance partners. The Al leader also accused the BNP of not being sincere in trying to resolve the prevailing political impasse. “BNP leaders claim that they want a dialogue. But when they actually sit for talks with the AL, they do not want to admit it,” he added.
Nasim, former home minister, urged the Election Commission (EC) to announce the schedule for the 10th parliamentary election at the earliest. “An overwhelming majority of the people want a free and fair election. It does not matter if a certain party wants to stay away from the poll process. After all, there is no constitutional obligation for a party to contest the election to make it credible,” he added.
Nasim urged BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia to join the poll considering “her party leaders’ eagerness to do so”. He asserted that the BNP would be accused of staying away from a democratic process if it heeded the advice of its ally, the Jamaat-e-Islami.
AL advisory council member Suranjit Sengupta has said that the government is making all-out efforts to hold talks with the BNP. “I hope the secretary general-level discussion will bring a fruitful solution in terms of ending the political stalemate. The talks will pave the way to reach a consensus. But the Constitution should be the focal point of these discussions,” he said.
Suranjit made the remarks at a meeting on “Opposition threat to paralyse the country: Upcoming general election”. It was organised by the Bangabandhu Academy at the Khwaja Nijamuddin auditorium in the city.
“All-out efforts are being made by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina so that all political parties can be a part of the poll-time government. The BNP is a pro-election party, not a rebellious one. It wants to come to power through election. So, once again I want to say that the beginning of the discussion between the two major political parties will be fruitful and the BNP would join the all-party government and work for holding of a credible poll,” the AL leader said.
At the same time, the former minister accused BNP leaders of making provocative speeches. “I request them to stop such activities and speak in the language of democracy,” he said.
He played down the Opposition’s objection to Sheikh Hasina heading the interim government. “She is the PM and there is no scope to go beyond the jurisdiction of the Constitution,” Suranjit said.
-With The Independent input
