BNP has said that it will sit for talks only if the government agrees to concede its demand for a non-party, poll-time government.
“Our position is clear. A discussion with the government has to be on this issue,” BNP spokesperson Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir told a rally in Dhaka.
He announced a string of nationwide demonstrations on Saturday to protest the arrests made during the BNP-led 18-party alliance’s 60-hour strike.
The alliance held the rally at the capital’s Suhrawardy Udyan on Thursday afternoon, protesting arrests and police action during the shutdown.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina invited her arch rival BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia to a dinner dialogue in a phone call to her on Saturday, after Khaleda threatened to enforce a 60-hour strike if the government failed to initiate a process for talks.
The BNP chief, however, refused the Prime Minister’s offer, saying she would join the talks only after her 60-hour shutdown programme was over.
Fakhrul claimed the government was merely pretending to care for a dialogue because of mounting public pressure.
“The Prime Minister is discussing the election date and the formation of an all-party government with various parties. She has already spoken to the constituents of the 14-Party alliance and the Jatiya Party.”
“They hope to confuse the people by sitting in a dialogue with the BNP,” claimed Fakhrul. “That is why the Prime Minister called the Opposition Leader.”
He felt that making public the transcripts of the phone conversation between the leading ladies was illegal.
“The Prime Minister did not respond even when the Opposition Leader, during that conversation, clearly stated that she would withdraw the strike only if she agreed to the non-party proposal.”
Fakhrul criticised amendments to the Representation of the People Order (RPO) and warned the Election Commission, saying, “Please do not confuse the people by amending the RPO and the Electoral Code of Conduct.”
He urged the EC to wait till the stalemate over the non-party government system was resolved.
Otherwise, Fakhrul claimed, the Commission would risk being black-listed by the people of Bangladesh for conducting a one-sided election.
Source: Bd news24
