A day after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s press conference, the BNP today said it was unwilling to hold any talks with the premier because, it claimed, she did not live up to her commitments.
The party also said it would not sit with those who put BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia in jail in a “false” case.
“We will not engage in any talks with her [ the prime minister]. Why should we hold a dialogue with her when she does not keep her word? That’s why we did not speak of dialogues for once,” said Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, secretary general of the party.
Addressing a press conference at BNP Chairperson’s Gulshan office, Fakhrul warned that his party would not make any compromise on the question of a neutral election.
The prime minister on Monday at her press conference ruled out the possibility of talks with the BNP ahead of the next general election.
“With whom will we hold talks? We held a dialogue before the 2018 election. What was its result? They did nothing except making the election questionable.”
Reacting to the PM’s remarks, Fakhrul said they long ago ruled out the possibility of talks with the current government.
“The Awami League will be held responsible if the next election becomes uncertain or if something worse happens in the next election,” he said, adding that people want a change as their backs have been pushed against the wall.
“So, we will not make any compromise on the question of an acceptable election.”
Fakhrul said the prime minister’s remark on the 2018 talks is nothing, but a mockery of truth. “We also have the same question about the outcome of the talks.”
The prime minister, no matter how she came to power, committed in front of all and told the media that the government would not interfere with the national election in 2018 and police would no longer arrest, file fresh cases, and repress anyone ahead of the election, he added.
“Just three days after the talks, BNP leaders and activists across the country were forced to flee their homes in the face of repressions by the police.”
