The Opposition will withdraw its 84-hour general strike if the government initiates moves to end the current political crisis, Abdul Kader Siddiqui has said.
The Bangladesh Krishak-Sramik Janata League President said this on Monday night after meeting BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia at her Gulshan residence.
He was accompanied by Bikalpadhara Bangladesh Secretary General Abdul Mannan.
“I have heard that water supply to the Opposition Leader’s house has been cut off. I felt sad about that. We came to express our solidarity,” said Siddiqui.
Five senior BNP leaders were arrested last Friday night after the 18-Party alliance called a third three-day strike from Sunday in as many weeks.
The Opposition extended the strike by another day to protest the arrests.
Soon after the strike call on Friday afternoon, police presence was beefed up outside Khaleda’s Gulshan office and residence. The government said the police reinforcement had been warranted by Khaleda’s security needs.
The country is drifting towards political conflict with the two major camps at loggerheads over the form of poll-time government that will oversee the upcoming parliamentary election.
The two leaders of the Awami League and the BNP – Sheikh Hasina and Khaleda – had spoken over the phone recently, but the path to a possible dialogue is yet to be charted.
The main opposition says they are ready to hold talks if the government meets their demand for a non-party, polls-time dispensation. At the same time, they are enforcing successive strikes to press that demand.
The ruling party, on the other hand, insists on a cessation of opposition strikes as a precondition for any dialogue.
They have also begun preparations to form an all-party interim government to oversee the polls.
Kader Siddiqui, who was once an Awami League leader, said he had asked Khaleda to withdraw the strike.
“After listening to our request, she said she will do so at once if the government takes the initiative to end the crisis.”
Asked about the kind of initiatives the BNP chief had in mind, Siddiqui said, “[She meant] the Prime Minister submitting her resignation along with the ministers to the President.
“That wouldn’t have relieved her of her post. But she did not do that.”
A member of the Awami League-led Grand Alliance in 2006, Bikalpadhara’s Secretary General Mannan said, “The Opposition Leader agreed with us and said only the government can provide a solution to the ongoing crisis.”
The duo had a half-hour meeting with the Leader of the Opposition.
Siddiqui said resignation of the ministers was a ‘drama’. “The Prime Minister didn’t need to do this drama. They should have resigned earlier.”
“I think 120 million of the 160 million people will be happy if the Prime Minister resigns.”
He wished for the President’s initiative to broker a way out of the political impasse. “A veteran politician like him should not be silent at a time like this.
Spurce: Bd news24
