BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia on Thursday said that the opposition is still waiting for the secretary general-level dialogue between the ruling party and the opposition to resolve the current political impasse over the poll-time government. She also alleged that the government has hindered the scope of dialogue by setting conditions, adding that the Prime Minister’s invitation was conditional.
“We’ve not closed the door for dialogue. It’s the government who has blocked the road for dialogue by setting different conditions. We’re still waiting for the secretary general-level dialogue as proposed by senior business leaders. We hope that the government would return to the path of dialogue,” Khaleda said, through a recoded speech, at a party rally. The speech was presented through video at the rally at the Suhraward Uddyan in the capital. The rally was organised to mark the National Revolution and Solidarity day.
Khaleda categorically said that her telephone conversation with the Prime Minister was recorded without her consent and it was later made public by the government. “This is totally illegal and unethical,” she added.
The BNP chief also urged her party supporters to remain vigilant to protect the lives, properties and places of worship of the minority communities. Alleging that the ruling AL has been trying to harm the minorities, she told her partymen to foil any such attempts.
Emphasising the need for a poll-time government under the CG, Khaleda said that 90 per cent of the country’s population want the caretaker government provision, but the PM wants to hold the election while remaining in power.
Referring to her telephone talks with the PM, Khaleda said the PM’s invitation for dialogue was conditional. “She invited me to go to Ganobhaban on October 28 and asked me to withdraw the hartal. I told her that I was ready to sit with her any day after October 29 as it was not possible to withdraw the hartal. I even told her that if she agreed to our demand, we would cancel our agitation programme. But the PM rejected my request,” she added.
“I want a peaceful solution to the prevailing political crisis and I also want to clear the cloud over the next general election through talks. I’m prepared for talks if the government wants to sit across the table without setting up any agenda over the poll-time administration,” she said.
There are less than 90 days for holding the 10th parliamentary poll. In spite of this, the government is enacting state policies unconstitutionally. Not only that, the Prime Minister is carrying out her election campaign by using the state resources, she alleged.
Khaleda Zia, also chief of the 18-party opposition alliance, said the ruling AL has turned the country’s law enforcement agencies into its associate bodies. The Election Commission has become a pet institution of the government, while the judiciary and administration have massively been made partisan, she claimed.
In such a situation, no impartial and credible election is possible under the ruling party’s management, she opined.
“I urge people from all walks of life to take to the street for carrying an all-out movement in a peaceful manner, so that the government is forced to accept the CG demand,” she said, adding that it is the time to remain united in the greater interest of an impartial general poll.
Referring to the recent verdict in the BDR carnage case, Khaleda said the people are still in the dark about the masterminds behind the BDR mutiny.
“The country is passing through a critical situation. I believe that we would be able to overcome this political impasse with active participation of the people in street-level anti-government movements,” she added.
The party’s acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, standing committee member Khandakar Mosharraf Hossain and others spoke at the programme, with Sadeque Hossain Khoka, vice-chairman of the party, in the chair.
-With The Independent input
