Awami League Presidium member Mohammed Nasim on Saturday ruled out a return to the caretaker system and suggested working for an ‘interim government’ to conduct parliament polls.
“If the Opposition starts a dialogue, we can work on a formula for an interim government to conduct the parliament elections,” Nasim told a rally at Rabindra Sarani in the city’s Uttara area.
Nasim demanded swift completion of the ongoing war crimes trial.
On Saturday, BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia turned down Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s offer for a dialogue and gave the government a 48-hour ultimatum to restore the caretaker system or face agitation.
“We’ll accept the verdict of the people. But there is no scope of returning to the caretaker government. Rather let’s sit for talks to determine the formation of the interim government,” Nasim said.
The former Home Minister said that the government do not want the recurrence of 1/11.
“I’ve come to know that she (Khaleda) has asked us to meet their demand. What’s the demand? We’ll not reinstate the caretaker provision,” Nasim said.
“What makes her so sure that the caretaker system will bring Khaleda Zia back to power,” said Nasim. “What will she do if the next caretaker government doesn’t announce the election schedule for an indefinite period?”
Awami League Joint general Secretary and Prime Minister’s Special Assistant Mahbub-ul Alam Hanif urged Khaleda to positively response to the prime Minister’s invitation to dialogue.
“Nobody has the political strength to bring down the Awami League. Nothing can be extracted from the Awami League by creating chaos and burning vehicles,” Nasim said.
He hoped that the Hefazat-e-Islam would postpone their Sunday’s Dhaka-siege programme and urged the radical Islamist group to go for a peaceful campaign.
In response to Khaleda’s remarks that ‘it is better to believe a snake rather than the Awami League’, Nasim said BNP’s key ally Jamaat-e-Islami is the real cobra.
“She (Khaleda) is playing with snakes and roaming around with snake baskets on her head.”
Mentioning that over 5,500 polls were held at union, Upazila and national levels in a free, fair and peaceful manner in the last four years, the Awami League leader said that no one could raise any question about the neutrality and fairness of the elections.
“Three-time Chittagong Mayor ABM Mohiuddin Chowdhury lost the Chittagong City Corporation by a margin of some 100,000 votes and we accepted the results,” Nasim said.
He said the next general election would also be held in a peaceful manner and the voters would be able to exercise their franchise peacefully.
Nasim described the upcoming polls to the four city corporations of Rajshahi, Khulna, Barisal and Sylhet as ‘a national election on a small scale’ and urged the BNP to participate in it.
Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal’s Presidium Council Member Shirin Akhter accused Hifazat-e Islam of trying to shield the war criminals.
Workers’ Party President Rashed Khan Menon claimed that the BNP did not want polls but conspired for ‘external interference’.
Dhaka city unit Awami League General Secretary Mofazzal Hossain Chowdhury Maya, Awami League Presidium Council Member and Post and telecommunications Minister Shahara Khatun also addressed the rally.
Source: Bd news24
