The Daily Star
Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami Ameer Shafiqur Rahman has said his party was not consulted about agreements signed with different countries during the tenure of the interim government.
“During the tenure of the interim government, several agreements were signed with different countries. Unfortunately, we were not consulted in any way regarding those agreements,” he wrote in a post on his verified Facebook account at 2:40 pm today.
He added that Jamaat had repeatedly demanded that in the absence of a parliament, the interim government should take decisions on important matters such as international agreements through discussions with political parties.
“However, the government of that time did not take our demands into consideration. Therefore, our position on the matter is clear and there is no room for creating any confusion here,” he added.
Amid criticism, Foreign Minister Khalilur Rahman had earlier said consent had been obtained from two major political parties — BNP and Jamaat — before signing a trade agreement with the United States.
Speaking at a briefing after a meeting with US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Paul Kapur on Wednesday, Khalilur said the US trade representative had spoken with the heads of the country’s two main parties before the election.
“The US trade representative had spoken with the heads of our two main parties before the election, and they had also given their consent,” he said, adding, “So it’s not that we did this in the dark.”
Before the agreement was signed, Khalilur, who served as national security adviser in the Muhammad Yunus-led government, played a key role on behalf of Bangladesh in negotiations with the United States.
Today’s statement marks Jamaat’s first formal reaction to the issue.
Source: https://www.thedailystar.net/news/bangladesh/politics/news/not-consulted-interim-govts-international-agreements-jamaat-ameer-4122196
