Bangladesh News

Awami League (AL), BNP and Jatiya Party (JP) yesterday welcomed the government move for holding dialogue with the political parties and urged the government to fix dates as early as possible to find a solution to the current crisis through discussion.

They also expressed hope that the misunderstandings between the political parties and the government would be cleared through the dialogues.

“After the date is fixed, we will discuss the national crises, implementation of electoral roadmap, lifting of state of emergency, among others, at the dialogue,” AL Presidium member Amir Hossain Amu told The Daily Star.

Council of advisers at a meeting yesterday agreed in principle that the government should sit for dialogues with the political parties as part of their duties.

BNP Secretary General Maj (retd) Hafiz Uddin Ahmed termed the initiative a good move. “If dialogues are arranged, then the prevailing misunderstandings between the political parties and the government will be cleared,” he told The Daily Star.

“We will discuss the burning issues of the present times at the dialogue,” Hafiz said adding that they would emphasise holding the election within the announced electoral roadmap. “We will also urge the government to fix the code of conduct for political parties detailing how they would act after the election,” he added.

Hailing the initiative, Acting Chairman of JP Anisul Islam Mahmud said that they would discuss price hike of essentials, holding of the next polls and lifting of state of emergency as well as the ban on politics at the dialogue.

Workers’ Party President Rashed Khan Menon said that the initiative points to the good sense of the government. “As the political parties have been demanding the government sit for dialogue, they should arrange it as early as possible,” he told The Daily Star.

Menon, a key leader of the AL-led 14-party combine, said that they would highlight the point of bringing back democracy in the country through holding elections soon. “We will also put emphasis on the current food, fertiliser, and economic crisis at the dialogue,” he added.

Addressing a discussion on Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s Homecoming Day at the Institution of Engineers’ Bangladesh in the capital, another AL Presidium member Suranjit Sengupta demanded the government announce the date for dialogue with the political parties in no time.

“We want to discuss the prevailing crisis of the country at the dialogue and raise question why our party chief has been kept detained and why the prices of essentials have skyrocketed,” he said.