Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said on Wednesday that BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia does not want to hold talks, rather she wants to create chaos in the country.
“We asked Khaleda Zia to sit for talks, but she gave an ultimatum. We wanted to discuss their adjournment proposal on election-time government, but they withdrew it. So, it is clear that they do not want discussion, they want chaos,” the Prime Minister, who is also the Awami League president, said. She was addressing grassroots leaders of the AL’s Naogaon district unit at her official residence, Ganobhaban.
At the same time, Hasina urged the Opposition leader to follow democratic means, shunning the path of destruction, and said if she remains in the democratic course she herself would benefit.
“I would like to tell the Opposition leader to stay on the right track for maintaining the democratic process in the country,” she said.
Hasina said if the caretaker government assumes power again, it won’t spare Khaleda and she might have to go to jail like in the past.
The Prime Minister, however, thanked the Opposition for participating in city corporation elections. She said it proved that holding a free, fair and credible election is possible under the Awami League. She called upon the Opposition to take part in the next general election, like city corporation polls, under an elected government to continue the democratic process.
“The AL alone can hold a fair election, as we have a responsibility towards the country and its people. So, the Awami League-led government will hold the next general election in a free, fair and credible manner in line with the Constitution and the BNP should participate in the election,” Hasina said.
The Prime Minister also mentioned that over 5,600 elections held in the last four and a half years of the present government were held in a free, fair and neutral manner and no one could raise any allegations about the polls.
Referring to the Opposition’s 48-hour ultimatum, she alleged that the Opposition leader wanted to oust an elected government with the help of the Jamaat and the Hefazat-e-Islam, but she did not succeed as the Awami League is a party of the masses.
She also alleged that the masterminds of the “minus two formula” are still active. They often raise their voice; if they find an issue, they start to speak out loudly, she added. Saying that these people were like turtles, she said when they find the condition in their favour, they raise their head; otherwise, they keep their head inside the shell.
She also asked the Opposition leader who has given her the guarantee that the next caretaker government won’t put her in jail again.
Referring to the repression and torture of Awami League leaders and workers during the BNP-Jamaat alliance government, the Prime Minister said thousands of leaders and workers of her party were killed and tortured after the 2001 general election. She said the Awami League does not believe in the politics of vengeance. Had it been otherwise, the Opposition parties would have ceased to exist. The Prime Minister called upon the party leaders and workers from Naogaon district to project her government’s success and development work before the people. She said when the Awami League comes to power, the people get something, but when the BNP is in power, they get nothing except terrorism, militancy and corruption.
Awami League presidium members, Kazi Zafarullah and Satish Chandra Roy, PM’s adviser Dr Alauddin Ahmed, AL joint secretary Mahbub-ul Alam Hanif, AL organising secretary Ahmad Hossain, office secretary Abdul Mannan Khan and others were present.
The AL deputy office secretary, Mrinal Kanti Das, conducted the meeting, which was part of a series of view-exchange meetings with grassroots-level leaders and workers initiated by the ruling party at the end of 2011.
-With The Independent input
