Get ready for polls, PM urges all

Mentioning that the President has entrusted her with the responsibility to run the polls-time cabinet, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Wednesday renewed her call to the opposition leader to join the upcoming parliamentary elections.

 

“I’ll again urge the opposition leader to join the election as it will be held in a free, fair and neutral manner. If she has that trust, she should join the election and she might come out the winner,” Hasina said winding up her speech of the 19th session of the 9th parliament, which is supposed to be the last session.

 

Calling upon people to take part in the next election spontaneously and thus strengthen the democratic process, the Awami League chief sought votes for her party to carry forward the development works and complete its unfinished tasks.

 

She also urged the country’s people to pardon her as well as her party if there is any mistake in running the country over the last five years.

 

Referring to her recent meeting with the President, the Prime minister said that she had apprised the President that her party is ready for the election which would be held as per the system practiced in other parliamentary system of democracies across the world.

 

Hasina said that the President has suggested her to carry on the responsibilities of the government during the election period. “We’ve then made a smaller cabinet in consultation with the President and the gazette to this end would be issued shortly along with the redistribution of their portfolios (of ministers).”

 

She said that the interim government for the election period would be bound to conduct its operations as per the directives of the Election Commission and it will only carry on with routine works instead of taking basic policy decisions.

 

“We at least want to start the process in Bangladesh by holding the election through the constitutional process as well as to continue the democratic system.”

 

The leader of the House said the Election commission has worked independently during the current government’s tenure and it will hold the next election freely and fairly and the ministries and divisions would be under the EC during the election as well as there would be no transfer of government officials prior to the approval of the EC.

 

Extending her thanks to the people of the country for not responding to the recent irrational demand of the opposition and enforcing a series of hartals, Hasina alleged that the opposition is now making sniper attacks and burning people to death as people did not respond to their call.

 

“They (opposition) couldn’t perceive that the people are not along with them…the Election Commission will give the polls schedule and Inshallah election would be held on Bangladesh soil and no one would be able to foil the polls,” Hasina told the House.

 

Accusing the opposition leader again of making repeated attempts to foil the country’s democratic process, the Premier said, “Does she (Khaleda) want the democratic process not to continue in the country? We’ve bitter experiences….why does she again want the reoccurrence of that incident? Will there be any election if a caretaker government comes? If so, the country’s people will lose their all rights, including the voting rights,”

 

“I’ll urge the opposition leader to take part in the election. Those will assume office whom people would cast their votes. We’ve no intention to assume power through vote rigging and we hate this,” she added.

 

Referring to her 37-minute conversation with the opposition leader last month, the AL president said that she had phoned Khaleda Zia and extended invitation so that the country’s people get peace.

 

The Prime Minister said the 15th amendment to the constitution has been made so that no one could grab power unconstitutionally. “We don’t want changeover of power further through any unconstitutional way…..we want to leave a fair political system before the country’s people.”

 

Nothing that her government has strengthened the EC along with introduction of transparent ballot boxes, voter ID cards, the AL chief said that there is no further scope for vote rigging now.

 

Extending her thanks to Jatiya Party, Workers Party for joining the polls-time government, Hasina said, “If the opposition could have come to that government and cabinet, then I would’ve been delighted, at least then they wouldn’t have any doubt regarding the election,”

 

“We don’t want to take place any irregularity as because we’ve fought against this and established the parliamentary system of democracy in the country,” she said.

 

The Prime Minister said that so far some 5,828 elections at different tiers were held during the tenure of the present government where some 64,060 representatives were elected and the government did not make any intervention on the activities of the EC.

 

Regarding the war crimes trial, she sought support and the mandate of people in the next election to complete the trial process. She said the trial of the BDR mutiny and carnage has also been completed as the court has delivered the verdicts in the shortest possible time after the bloody incident took place in February, 2009.

 

She claimed that her government has been able to eradicate the bad name of Bangladesh as a militant, terrorist and corrupt state and Bangladesh has now become a country of prospect and a role model in development.

 

Expressing her optimism that Bangladesh would turn into a peaceful country in South Asia, Hasina also expressed her firm hope to build a Sonar Bangla by 2021 if democracy, constitutional process and freedom of expression prevail in the country.

Source: UNB Connect