The BNP says it will agree to negotiate if the government proposes a dialogue in writing and agree to restore the caretaker system to conduct parliament polls. Party chief Khaleda Zia’s adviser Shamsuzzaman Dudu responded on Thursday to Prime Minister’s offer for talks to Opposition Leader Khaleda Zia. “We’d like to request the prime minister to clarify the agenda for the dialogue and then give us a formal proposal for talks,” he said in an immediate reaction. “We will respond if [the government] gives a written proposal announcing that the next national election will be held under a non-partisan body,” Dudu added. The Awami League has been looking for talks to end the current political impasse but its leaders have steadfastly opposed any dialogue with conditions. The Prime Minister has also ruled out a return to the caretaker system, saying it was abrogated because it was flawed. She has said all mature democracies hold elections under an independent Election Commission and that Bangladesh now had one in place. Earlier in the day, Sheikh Hasina had urged the BNP chief to sit for talks. She, however, hinted the government would not step back from its position on the caretaker government issue.
The BNP and its like-minded parties have been on the streets ever since the current government annulled the caretaker government provision through the 15th Amendment in 2011. They claim an election under a partisan body would not be free and fair.
However, the ruling party alleges the opposition is trying to disrupt the ongoing war crimes trials where several top leaders of Jamaat-e-Islami and two of the BNP face trials for crimes perpetrated during the 1971 Liberation War.
Various quarters, including business leaders and civil rights bodies, are pushing for talks between the Awami League and BNP to end the political impasse which is adversely impacting on the economy.
Even a petition has been filed in the High Court seeking to force the two top ladies of Bangladesh politics to negotiate an end to the ‘political impasse’.
BNP leader Dudu urged the Prime Minister to release the party’s top leaders from jail to “create a congenial atmosphere for talks”.
-With The Independent input
