BNP ready to sit for dialogue, says Fakhrul
US Secretary of State John Kerry
US Secretary of State John Kerry has sent separate letters to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and opposition leader Khaleda Zia asking them to hold a constructive dialogue without wasting any more time to decide on the poll-time government.
“The USA along with international community is concerned about the political situation in Bangladesh,” Kerry said in his letters.
Both the letters were received here on Sunday.
Contacted, Kelly S McCarthy, spokesperson for the US embassy in Bangladesh, confirmed to The Daily Star that Kerry sent letters to the prime minister and the opposition chief “encouraging them to engage in constructive dialogue to find a way forward towards free, fair and credible elections”.
BNP Vice-Chairman Shamsher Mobin Chowdhury also confirmed about receiving the letter written by Kerry to the BNP chairperson.
Chowdhury said Kerry asked all political parties of country to sit for constructive dialogue for peaceful and participatory elections in Bangladesh.
The US envoy also emphasised that the outcome of the dialogue should be acceptable to all for the sake of holding a free and fair polls.
Earlier on August 23, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon phoned the two leaders and urged them to hold talks for a peaceful resolution of the ongoing political crisis centring the poll-time government.
He also said the UN wanted to see a free, fair and credible election participated by all the parties and that it was closely monitoring the political situation in Bangladesh.
BNP READY FOR TALKS
Talking to reporters Monday, BNP acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said his party agrees to Kerry’s proposal.
“BNP is ready to sit for a constructive dialogue,” he told reporters near the grave of BNP founder and former president Ziaur Rahman at Sher-e-Bangla Nagar in the capital.
The next parliamentary election has become uncertain for the government’s rigid stance on restoration of the caretaker government system, he added.
Source: The Daily Star
