We will not budge an inch from Constitution’
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Sunday rejected outright the opposition demand for restoration of the caretaker government system and asserted that her government would not budge an inch from the Constitutional provision in holding the next general election.
“Everything will be done as per the Constitution, and there will not be any deviation from the Constitutional provision,” the Prime Minister told a questioner at a crowded press conference at her official residence Ganabhaban in the afternoon.
A resolute prime minister firmly brushed aside the opposition demand and said: “We amended the Constitution with people’s mandate. The election will be in accordance with the Constitution. We will not budge an inch.”
The next parliamentary election is scheduled later this year or early next year in accordance with the provisions of the amended Constitution.
Hasina said she believes in the Constitution and her party has amended it after having people’s mandate.
Dismissing claims by opposition BNP leaders that there would be a Constitutional crisis after October 25, the prime minister said that she can say with certainty “that will not happen…”
She also reminded that the 15th amendment to the Constitution that scrapped the caretaker provision came from the high court. But she regretted that the BNP claims it is a ‘process’ by which the ruling party wants to retain power.
About opposition fears that votes would be rigged under a political government, the Prime Minister said, “We have no desire to steal votes. We have done so much work, it is up to the people to vote for us; if they don’t, we won’t stay on.” Sheikh Hasina alleged that BNP was trying to create a Constitutional crisis in the country. “But, we don’t want that and the people of the country also do not want that.” Hasina said the opposition BNP had long been hatching conspiracies through a negative propaganda against the government.
She also referred to BNP comment on continuation of parliament after October 25 and asserted that parliament would be there in place till the next election although officially there would be no parliament session.
Explaining the point further, Hasina said the President might call parliament into session any time if he wants when there is a necessity.
Citing the examples of parliamentary system in democratic countries elsewhere in the world, she said the next election would be held as per the Constitution and as per the parliamentary system in other democracies.
“None of us has forgotten the bitter experience of the caretaker government of 1/11,” she said, adding that those who formed this government stayed in power for as long as two years in place of only three months.
Sheikh Hasina observed that the next national election “is extremely significant” for the continuity of the country’s democracy and progress. She said her government initiated a trend of development in the country during its 1996-2001 tenure but later the BNP-Jamaat alliance
foiled it.
“We believe the people will again elect us in the interest of their own and the nation’s progress,” the prime minister said.
Shekh Hasina said her party’s goal is to build a non-communal democratic Bangladesh based on the values of the Liberation War and appealed to the countrymen to raise their voice against any attempt to use religion for political gains.
We are determined to protect the rights of the people of all religions to practice their respective faiths freely and live in harmony, she said, adding that her party is also determined to protect the spirit and the religious values of the Muslim majority people of Bangladesh.
The prime minister said: “Our position against religious fanaticism and fundamentalism is quite clear. We have combated militancy and terror, a step which has been acclaimed internationally. Today, Bangladesh is recognized as a role model for democracy in the world.”
Sheikh Hasina said but some religious fanatics led by the BNP-Jamaat alliance are trying to push Bangladesh towards a dark era. The same people encouraged by the same axis are also spreading propaganda against women’s progress in the country, she added.
Highlighting various achievements of her government over the last four and a half year, the prime minister said that a total of 5,723 polls were held electing 63,941 representatives of the people. Many candidates of our party were defeated in these elections and none could raise any question, she added.
“My government and the administration did not create any obstacle against holding of a fair election,” the prime minister asserted.
Agriculture Minister Matia Chowdhury, Foreign Minister Dr Dipu Moni and Prof Maqsudul Alam, who led a team of local scientists on jute, also spoke at the news conference.
It was also attended, among others, by Awami League general secretary and LGRD and Cooperatives Minister Syed Ashraful Islam, Awami League presidium member Fazlul Karim Selim, Minister for Environment and Forests Dr Hasan Mahmud, Civil Aviation Minister Faruk Khan, Prime Minister’s media advisor Iqbal Sobhan Chowdhury and State Minister for LGRD and Cooperatives Jahangir Kabir Nanak.
-With The Independent input
