Hold talks or face movement, BNP warns government

FE Team | Published: June 12, 2014 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2026 06:01:00

Mirza Fakhrul Islam

BNP spokesman Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir Wednesday warned the government of a strong movement if it does not accept their chairperson's offer for a dialogue for holding a fresh inclusive national election, reports UNB.
"Dialogue is the only way to overcome the current political crisis in the country. We call upon the government to sit in talks without buying time. Or else, there'll be no option left for us other than waging a strong movement to force the regime for holding a fresh election under a non-party administration," he said.
Mirza Fakhrul, the BNP acting secretary general, came up with the remarks while talking to reporters after placing wreaths at the grave of BNP founder Ziaur Rahman with the newly-elected central committee members of Jatiyatabadi Sramik Dal.
Asked what will be the agenda of the dialogue if any, the BNP leader said holding an immediate fresh election with the participation of all parties will be its only agenda.
Earlier Sunday night, BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia at a meeting with an EU delegation said her party is ready to sit with the government anytime to reach a consensus for holding an inclusive fresh national election.
Criticising the ruling party leaders for their comment that there would be no talks before 2019, Mirza Fakhrul said the Awami League (AL) leaders are saying this to cling on to power illegally.
"We've long been saying there is no other alterative to talks for resolving crisis. We'd also called for holding dialogue before the January-5 election. But they (govt) didn't respond to it," the BNP leader alleged.
He also recalled that though they had held dialogue twice with AL mediated by UN Assistant Secretary General Oscar Fernandez-Taranco before the election, it did not yield any positive outcome.
Even after the January-5 'farcical election', the BNP spokesman said, they pushed for talks to reach an understanding with the government for resolving the crisis.
Mirza Fakhrul said the country's people now want a free fair inclusive election to be held as soon as possible under a non-party government.
"We think the January-5 election was nothing but a farce. So, the government which assumed office through the polls has no moral right to stay in office," he observed.