She tells of making ‘maximum sacrifice’ to end crisis
M Abul Kalam Azad and Hasan Jahid Tusher
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday said she would soon telephone her archrival Khaleda Zia and talk about the formation of an all-party polls-time government.
Addressing the weekly cabinet meeting at Bangladesh Secretariat, the prime minister said she was ready for “maximum sacrifice” to break the current political deadlock centring on the next parliamentary election.
“The prime minister informed us that she will telephone the opposition leader and talk about forming an all-party government which will oversee the next parliamentary election,” a minister told The Daily Star after the meeting.
“We will try our best to ensure they [BNP] take part in the election. We want to go for the polls together,” the minister quoted Hasina as saying.
Contacted, Agriculture Minister and AL presidium member Matia Chowdhury confirmed to The Daily Star the prime minister’s statement on the phone call in the offing.
In a televised address last Friday, Hasina proposed forming an all-party election-time government and urged the BNP to nominate its MPs for inclusion in the interim cabinet.
But the main opposition maintains it won’t take part in the election, but will do so only if it is held under a non-party neutral caretaker administration.
On Sunday night, Hasina informed leaders of AL-ally Jatiya Party that she would talk with all other parties, including the BNP, about the formation of an all-party polls-time government and election schedule.
According to AL insiders, the PM wants the next parliamentary election either on December 30 or 31. The Jatiya Party has extended its support to the plan.
“The schedule will be announced in mid November,” a senior AL leader told The Daily Star.
As Hasina at the meeting yesterday elaborately talked with her cabinet colleagues about her plan to resolve the political impasse, some senior ministers discussed her proposal and the BNP’s possible strategy. They congratulated her on Friday’s address to the nation.
The PM strictly instructed them not to speak indiscriminately or give conflicting opinions about the polls-time government or the election. “Indiscriminate talking will create confusion,” she said.
Hasina, president of the ruling Awami League, asked the cabinet members to be cautious about giving reactions on the BNP’s formula for polls-time administration.
“We will have to sacrifice because we have liberated the country. The BNP does not want the welfare of the people… they do not even believe in the country’s independence. Whatever sacrifice is to be made it will be by the Awami League,” said the premier.
Source: The Daily Star
