BNP urges Hasina to open talks on election-time govt

FE Team | Published: January 13, 2018 22:18:31

The BNP has urged Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to open talks with all the stakeholders about how would be the government that will lead the country during the next parliamentary election, report agencies.
The party has softened its tone since Friday, when BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said the head of state was pushing the country into a further crisis following her speech.
The BNP, which boycotted the previous general election, has continued to press its demand for an impartial government during the eleventh parliamentary elections.
BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia had promised to provide an outline for what such a government would look like, but has yet to do so.
In her address to the nation on Friday, Hasina announced that an 'election-time government' will be formed following a cabinet reboot, just as it was in 2013.
Fakhrul made the BNP's official response at a press conference at the party chairperson's Gulshan office on Saturday.
"If the prime minister is sincere about forming an election-time government then she should hold discussions with all the stakeholders," said the BNP leader.
"Our party believes that meaningful solutions to the 2018 election are possible through sincere and hearty dialogue. We are calling for the formation of an acceptable election system through long-term discussions with opposition parties and members of civil society," he added.
"People have got frustrated, surprised, and worried with the Prime Minister's address to the nation. There is no clear outline in her speech to resolve the existing national crisis. What she has talked about the next parliamentary polls is very ambiguous and confusing," said Fakhrul.
The next election won't be free and fair if it's held under a partisan government keeping parliament functional as per the current constitution. Because the election time-government will be similar to the existing one if parliament remains in place," he observed.
He said their party will come up with its proposal on the election-time government at the appropriate time.
Fakhrul said there is no similarity between the reality and the statics the Prime Minister presented about the country's development in her address to the nation.
BNP standing committee members Gayeshwar Chandra Roy, Dr Abdul Moyeen Khan, Nazrul Islam Khan and Amir Khasru Mahmud were present.