Friday, March 29, 2024

Talks anywhere, anytime

* CG issue should be on the agenda: BNP * Formal proposal in next two days: Ashraf
Dhaka, May 2: Prime minister and president of the ruling Awami League Sheikh Hasina on Thursday urged opposition leader and BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia to sit for a dialogue to resolve the long-standing political stalemate that gripped the country for the last couple of years. She said that that she was ready to discuss the wayout of the current political crisis with the opposition leader ‘in anytime, anywhere’. In an immediate response to her offer the opposition said that they were also ready to sit for the dialogue if they got formal proposal from the government and the issue of restoration of the caretaker government system would be incorporated in the dialogue agenda.
“Let’s come and sit anytime, anywhere…let’s discuss. You can come to Parliament… it’ll be better as it’s the most neutral place. We’ll listen to your demands and we’ll do whatever possible for us,” the prime minister urged the opposition leader while addressing a view exchange meeting with Awami League grassroots leaders from Jhalkati district at her official residence Ganobhaban in the morning.
The PM’s much awaited offer stirred the country’s political arena and it inject fresh hope to end the ongoing confrontational politics as both the ruling party and the opposition seemed to talk a hard line suffocating the democratic polity.
“At this critical time, we urge the opposition leader to come up and place her demands. We’re ready to listen to your demands… we’ll do everything which will be the best for the country,” the prime minister said.
Hours after the PMs call, party general secretary Syed Ashraful Islam told the newsmen that the government would send a formal proposal to the opposition for dialogue within next two days.
“The proposed dialogue would be brief as we know the issue . . . the dialogue could be held inside or outside parliament,” he said talking to the reporters at the foundation laying ceremony of a guest house of Dhaka Officers Club in the city on Thursday.
He added that the dialogue could be held between the top leaders of the two parties while he expected the dialogue offer to be formalised in the next two days and expected a positive opposition response to it.
He said the premier’s dialogue proposal was the outcome of a long informal process to bring the two parties to the talks.
On the other hand, briefing the press on his party’s position regarding PMs offer, BNP leader Shamsuzzaman Dudu who is also adviser to BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia, said, “Written and formal proposal for dialogue will have to be given first clearing the government’s stance to hold the next general poll under a non-party CG management.
Only then, will we sit with the government for discussion in or outside the parliament. Several ministers and senior leaders of the ruling Awami League have been making the same call since the political standoff emerged over the CG issue”.
“BNP will respond positively if the premier Sheikh Hasina puts forward a formal proposal setting up an agenda for the talks to pave the path of holding the next general poll under the CG oversight,” he said.
“There is no necessity to prolong the dialogue if the CG demand is met. We can hold talks to select chief of the election time CG management,” he added.
“If you (premier) have any reservation about the name of caretaker government, you can describe the system as election time non-partisan government,” he said adding that BNP would never raise any question against this,” Dudu said.
Talking to The Independent BNP leader Khondker Mosharraf Hossain and MK Anwar thanked the PM for the dialogue offer and hoped a formal proposal regarding the dialogue would be made by the government.
Earlier, in her speech at Ganabhnaban, the prime minister mentioned that the government wants peace to prevail in the country and people lead a secure life, as it is not desirable for anyone to kill people in the name of hartal and put people in any uneasy situation.
She urged the opposition leader not to do anything that may hamper the country’s democratic process. “We’ll have to ensure the continuation of democratic process.”
Hasina also mentioned that more than 5,600 elections were held in a free, fair and neutral manner under the present government as the government believes in people’s empowerment and ensuring their constitutional rights. “We want the democratic process to continue in the country.”
The Prime Minister also thanked the opposition again for lifting their hartal in response to her request after the Savar building collapse.
“Just after the building collapse I, from a programme, had requested them to withdraw the hartal, they did it in a couple of hours…I thank them for their gesture,” she said.
She also mentioned that BNP and some other political parties had called for hartal for today (May 2) over their various demands. “Again, I requested them to withdraw it as we couldn’t complete the rescue operation at Savar…I convey my thanks to them as they listened to my appeal.”
Turning to the election issue, Hasina said the Election Commission will enjoy the all power during the election. “The EC will enjoy it (power) all. The election will be held as per the system of the other democratic countries in the world.”
Hasina also said she does not want the 2007-like situation when the caretaker government advisers had quit. “After that the caretaker government was formed with all favorite persons of Khaldea Zia and that caretaker government didn’t want to leave power.” The prime minister also urged opposition leader Khaleda Zia to come to Parliament just once to join a photo session with the new Speaker, the Leader of the House and Leader of the Opposition in Parliament.
“Please, come to Parliament just once, let’s have at least one picture together to keep it on record,” Hasina requested Khaleda Zia.
Dr Shirin Sharmin Choudhury was elected the country’s first female Speaker on April 30.
With her election as the female Speaker, now the Jatiya Sangsad is adorned by three key women — Speaker Dr Shirin Sharmin Chowdhury, Leader of the House Sheikh Hasina and Leader of the Opposition in Parliament Khaleda Zia — apart from many other women MPs.
“We’ve made a history in the world… this will never happen again,” Hasina said adding that the Speaker of Parliament is now a woman.
Even the deputy leader of Parliament is woman, Syeda Sajeda Chowdhury. “I would request you to select a female deputy leader of the opposition in Parliament. That will make another example in the world,” Hasina said adding that there is no deputy leader of the opposition in Parliament since its beginning.
The Prime Minister went on: “I’ll request her (Khaleda) just to come to Parliament to give a chance for snapping just one picture. It’ll be there on record in the world history.”
“That’s why I will request her to come at least one time in the Parliament,” she said.
Sheikh Hasina at the same programme also invited Khaleda Zia to sit for a dialogue to break the country’s long-drawn political standoff.

-with The Independent input

Related News

bKash communications chief Mahfuz Sadique dies at 40

News Desk : dhakamirror.com Mahfuz Sadique, chief communications officer of mobile financial services firm bKash, passed away in Bangladesh capital Dhaka Friday morning. He was 40. Mahfuz died around 9:00am while undergoing treatment at a hospital in the capital, bKash said in a statement. Mahfuz, who began his career as a journalist at New Age, ... Read more

Prices for potatoes increase by 229% from the previous year

Prices for potatoes varied from Tk16 to Tk22 per kg at this time last year. News Desk : dhakamirror.com Despite the presence of both new and old potatoes in the market, potato prices have soared by 229% compared to late December last year. According to the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB), the selling price for ... Read more

LGED engineer dead, UNO among 3 injured in Panchagarh car crash

News Desk : dhakamirror.com An engineer of the Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) was killed and three other government officials were injured when the vehicle of a UNO hit a roadside tree in Panchagarh Sadar upazila early today. The deceased was identified as Abu Sayed, 33, upazila engineer of LGED from Pirganj upazila of Thakurgaon. ... Read more

UNHCR calls for rescue of Rohingyas stranded in Andaman Sea

News Desk : dhakamirror.com The United Nations (UN) Refugee Agency, UNHCR, has made an urgent appeal to all countries in the region, particularly those in the area surrounding the Andaman Sea, to swiftly deploy their full search and rescue capacities in response to reported vessels in distress with hundreds of Rohingya at risk of perishing. ... Read more

Over 200 RMG workers injured in Comilla while evacuating factory during earthquake

News Desk : dhakamirror.com Over two hundred garment workers in Cumilla’s Chauddagram have been injured while trying to evacuate the factory building of Amir Shirt Garment Limited during today’s earthquake. A 5.5 magnitude earthquake at a depth of 10km jolted Dhaka, and parts of the country at 9:35am today (2 December). The epicentre of the ... Read more

Daughter hacked father to death in Chattogram

News Desk : dhakamirror.com A father was hacked to death by his own daughter during an altercation over a trivial matter at Lohagara upazila in Chattogram on Friday (1 December). The deceased was identified as Abdur Rahman, 50, of Putibila Sarai village under the upazila. Police have detained the daughter, Humaira Begum, 23, soon after ... Read more

HSC results: Dhaka has most GPA-5 achievers, while Barishal has highest pass rate

News Desk : dhakamirror.com Dhaka had the highest number of GPA-5 recipients in the HSC exams, while Barishal Education Board had the highest pass rate among nine educational boards. Education Minister Dipu Moni announced today that the overall pass rate in the nine general boards is 75.90 percent. In terms of pass rates, Barishal ranked ... Read more

PSC postpones 45th BCS written tests

News Desk : dhakamirror.com The Bangladesh Public Service Commission (PSC) has decided to postpone the written tests for the 45th Bangladesh Civil Service examination, which was scheduled to be held on 27 November. The announcement came through a notification signed by Ananda Kumar Biswas, the exam controller of PSC, issued on Friday. PSC held a ... Read more

After stabbing younger sister to death woman ‘kills herself’ in Hazaribagh

News Desk : dhakamirror.com A woman reportedly killed herself after stabbing her younger sister to death in the capital’s Hazaribagh area today. Police said the incident took place in the Kalunagar area at around 12am on Monday (13 November). The deceased have been identified as Jasmine Akhtar, 44, and her younger sister Nasreen Akhtar, 30. ... Read more

Oman stops issuing new visas to citizens of Bangladesh

News Desk : dhakamirror.com The Sultanate of Oman has suspended the issuance of visas across all categories for Bangladeshi nationals, the Royal Oman Police (ROP) said on Tuesday. The decision was effective from Tuesday, reported Oman-based English newspaper the Times of Oman referring to the Royal Oman Police. The report said that the ROP confirmed ... Read more

Dhaka girl Nupur takes over as chairman of Unilever for a day

News Desk : dhakamirror.com Seventeen-year-old Nupur from Dhaka, had the opportunity to take over Unilever’s chairman position for one day on Thursday. There, she symbolically carried out the roles and responsibilities of Zaved Akhtar, the chairman and managing director of Unilever Bangladesh, said a press release. Nupur being an active youth club member, works for ... Read more

Hospitals must follow guidelines, orders HC

News Desk : dhakamirror.com The High Court on Thursday asked the government to take steps to make it compulsory to follow the relevant guidelines for the prevention of performing unnecessary caesarean section surgery at government and private hospitals and clinics. The court has also directed the government to widely circulate the guidelines within six months. ... Read more

Woman delivers birth to five babies at DMCH

News Desk : dhakamirror.com A woman has given birth to five premature babies. The quintuplets were born at the Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) at 10am on Thursday to Mansura Begum, 22, the wife of CNG driver Md Mamun from Bandardia village in Shibpur upazila of Narsingdi district. One of the newborns, however, died shortly ... Read more

Tk8.44 cr fine imposed to Kazi Farms, 3.44 crore to Suguna Food

News Desk : dhakamirror.com The Bangladesh Competition Commission has fined Kazi Farms Group and Saguna Food and Feeds on charges of market manipulation causing abnormal rise in broiler chicken prices. BCC officials said that the companies must deposit the fine amount to the BCC within 10 working days. If they fail to deposit the fine ... Read more

Heritage volunteers visit national museum

News Desk : dhakamirror.com The heritage volunteers participating in UNESCO World Heritage Volunteers Programme 2023 visited national museum in Dhaka on Sunday. The ten-day workshop programme organised by Nagar Upakhyan-Perceive started on October 1, said a press release. The Heritage volunteers’ team visited national museum which is on the UNESCO World Heritage tentative list on ... Read more

Fare for Bangladesh-India trains to increase from November 10

News Desk : dhakamirror.com Ticket prices of three inter-country trains on Bangladesh-India routes are going to be hiked from November 10. The fares are going to increase due to high exchange rate of US dollar and rising travel tax, according to the Bangladesh Railway officials. The trains are – Maitree Express on Dhaka-Kolkata, Bandhan Express ... Read more

Man, nephew killed by lightning

News Desk : dhakamirror.com A man and his nephew were struck by lightning in Satarbari village of Longair union under Gafargaon upazila of Mymensingh yesterday. The deceased were identified as Sohel Mondol, 40, a trader of pharmaceutical drugs, and his nephew Razib Mondol, 35 a rice trader in the village. Quoting locals, Raju Ahmed, officer-in-charge ... Read more

TV sales decline despite World Cup: Is streaming to blame?

News Desk : dhakamirror.com The ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 captures the attention of sports enthusiasts across the world and an intriguing trend is emerging in Bangladesh’s television market. While events of this magnitude have traditionally led to an increase in TV sales, recent figures from September show a 30% decline compared to the same ... Read more

Heritage volunteers visit Paharpur archaeological museum

News Desk : dhakamirror.com The heritage volunteers participating in UNESCO World Heritage Volunteers Programme 2023 visited Paharpur archaeological museum in Naogaon on Friday. The ten-day workshop programme organised by Nagar Upakhyan-Perceive started on October 1, said a press release. The Heritage volunteers’ team visited Paharpur archaeological museum which is on the UNESCO World Heritage tentative ... Read more

Child among three dead as mud walls collapsed in rain in Gazipur

News Desk : dhakamirror.com Three people including an eight-year-old child died in separate incidents of mud walls collapsing during heavy rain in Sadar and Kaliakoir upazilas of Gazipur. The deceased are Faridul Islam, 8, son of Matiur Rahmon of Konabari Baimile under Sadar upazila, and Imarat Hossain, 65, and his wife Achia Begum, 56, of ... Read more