The Awami League has urged the BNP to shun violence to create the right atmosphere for the much-needed political negotiations.
The ruling party made the appeal to the main opposition on Tuesday when the leaders of the two parties met at the behest of UN emissary Oscar Fernandez-Taranco, the Awami League said in a statement.
The BNP in its statement, however, said they had agreed to discuss the form of the government that will oversee the parliamentary election.
However, the Awami League sounded a different note.
The ruling party media statement issued on Tuesday night said the government was ready for talks on all issues, including the polls-time dispensation, if the Opposition gave up violence.
The statement, signed by the Prime Minister’s special aide Abdus Sobhan Golap, said the meeting had discussed the country’s “overall situation”.
He said the Awami League had urged the Opposition to put an end to anarchy to create an atmosphere suitable for a dialogue and pave the way for the release of the detained BNP leaders.
“No discussions can be fruitful unless these acts of anarchy are stopped,” asserted the statement.
The Awami League delegation included the party’s General Secretary Syed Ashraful Islam, Advisory Council members Amir Hossain Amu and Tofail Ahmed and Prime Minister’s International Affairs Advisor Gowher Rizvi.
The BNP delegation included the party’s acting Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, Standing Committee members Khandkar Mosharraf Hossain and Abdul Moyeen Khan and the BNP Vice Chairman Shamsher Mobin Chowdhury.
It was held at UN Resident Coordinator Neal Walker’s Gulshan residence.
This meeting made Fernández-Taranco optimistic about the outcome.
He described it as a “very positive development”, good enough to extend his stay in Bangladesh by a day.
Source: Bd news24
