Apparently turning down Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s offer to have a dialogue over the current political crisis on Monday, BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia on Saturday said she would sit with her only after the end of their scheduled hartal programme.
“The Prime Minister invited the opposition leader to sit for dialogue withdrawing the hartal programme…the opposition leader requested the PM to accept in principle that the next general election will be held under a non-party government and then she will postpone all the declared action programmes,” said the BNP chief’s press secretary Maruf Kamal Khan Sohel.
Briefing reporters at Khaleda’s Gulshan office about the 37-minute telephonic conversation between the top two leaders of the country, Sohel quoted the BNP chairperson as saying, “If you (Hasina) invite me for dinner after the hartal programme, I agree to join you along with my party colleagues and alliance leaders.”
In the telephone talks, Hasina invited Khaleda for a political dialogue at Ganobhaban followed by dinner on Monday.
About the PM’s request to withdraw the three-day hartal, Khaleda Zia told Hasina, “It’s not possible right now…It’s a scheduled programme of the 18-party alliance. I can’t take the decision alone. It’s also not possible now to bring the alliance leaders together to revise the decision as they are on the run in the face of police action on the eve of hartal.”
‘I’ve taken the decision after consultation with the alliance leaders. Had you (Hasina) indicated it yesterday (Friday), we could have taken a decision in this regard after holding a meeting,” Khaleda added.
Earlier on Friday, giving the government until Saturday to initiate dialogue over the polls-time nonpartisan cabinet, Khaleda from a mammoth rally of the 18-party at Suhrawardy Udyan announced to enforce a 60-hour non-stop countrywide hartal from 6am on Sunday if the regime does not come up with a positive response.
About the Prime Minister’s invitation to Ganobhaban on October 28, Maruf said, “The opposition leader said she won’t be able to go on Monday as there’s a hartal programme on that day. “If you (Hasina) invite me for dialogue any time after the end of the hartal programme I’ll come up with a positive response,” Maruf quoted further Khaleda Zia as saying.
He said the opposition leader also told the Prime Minister, “You’ve given a proposal for an all-party government and I’ve given a proposal on a polls-time non-party interim government. I think we can reach an understanding coordinating the two proposals.”
The Prime Minister urged the opposition leader to accept her all-party government proposal, Maruf said adding that the opposition leader in response said, “People didn’t accept your proposal.”
When Sheikh Hasina recalled past events, the BNP chief said, “Please give up thinking backward. We want to go forward through a new type of politics. We want a fresh start putting behind past bitterness. If you (Hasina) blame the opposition looking at the past, the atmosphere of discussion would be marred and we wouldn’t able to march forward.”
Khaleda also urged the Prime Minister to work together to reach an acceptable solution through discussion. “We also had worked in the past. We would able to reflect the nation’s hope if we shun political bitterness,” he said.
About the premier’s version that she (Hasina) repeatedly tried to reach Khaleda over red phone, the opposition leader said, “It was a dead one. Had you been sincere to contact me, you could have reached me through any other means at this modern age.
Khaleda also demanded the Prime Minister take action against a T&T employee who falsely told media that her red phone was operative.
BNP acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, Khaleda’s special assistant Shamsur Rahman Shimul Biswas and Maruf were present at Khaleda’s Gulshan residence when she talked to the Prime Minister over phone.
Having failed to reach Khaleda over the red phone despite repeated attempts since afternoon, the Prime Minister finally contacted the opposition leader through Shimul’s cellphone.
Receiving Sheikh Hasina’s phone call from Ganobhaban at 6:20pm, Shimul put forward his cellphone to Khaleda, beginning the much-awaited conversation between the two arch rivals.
Source: UNBConnect
Very few have been surprised at the opposition party boss’s reply to the PM’s ‘invitation’. It’s not difficult to understand that the PM was perhaps not mentally ready to go this length or she would have desisted or restrained her lieutenants to pronounce intimidating words to the opposition and the law-enforcing agencies to keep the opposition leaders and activists on the run since the time rumors were in the air that she would phone to Begum Zia. Had she been real sincere she could have talked to Begum Zia at least a week ago. Many may think this might be a trick to distance Begum Zia from the parties in alliance and put her on the defensive side by side abort the ‘hartal’ called by the 18-party alliance. In fact in this very critical juncture any trick may vehemently backfire and make the situation unmedably worse. Honesty, sincerity and open-mindedness on the part of both the PM and the leader of the opposition is the only solution. But will the PM go for that?