The British high commissioner in Dhaka, Robert W Gibson, on Monday welcomed the positive aspects of the BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia’s speech, and hoped that all sides would approach the dialogue in a spirit of compromise and trust. ‘We hope that the suggestions made in her (Khaleda) speech will be considered by the government and that meaningful dialogue will quickly begin which would offer the people of Bangladesh more certainty over the
election process and lead to elections that are transparent, inclusive and credible,’ the envoy said in a statement.
He also hoped that the dialogue among the political parties will be in place refraining from any disruptive acts of violence or harassment.
The British diplomat welcomed Khaleda’s reassuring remarks about international terrorism and regional cooperation and her renunciation of violence.
Robert Gibson also welcomed her promises made to ethnic and religious minorities and the pledge to move away from the politics of personality and past blame and instead focus on the challenges facing Bangladesh.
Earlier in the day, BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia offered an alternative formula to form a polls-time government led by a revered person comprising 10 ex-advisers from the 1996 and 2001 caretaker governments to be chosen by the ruling and opposition parties to hold an inclusive and credible election.
‘I am proposing that from those 20 advisers the ruling party can propose five names and the opposition another five. They will be the advisers to the forthcoming election-time government,’ she told a crowded press conference at city’s Westin Hotel.
Khaleda also proposed that a respected citizen of the country on the basis of a consensus between the government and the opposition parties can be chosen as the chief adviser to the interim government.
-With New Age input
