Bangladesh News

Speaker Jamiruddin Sircar yesterday said he is ready to mediate between the rival factions within BNP, if any proposal comes along.

“If they [factions] want, I will surely try to settle the differences so that the party stays united,” he told reporters at the National Press Club after a milad mahfil in honour of late Toyeba Majumder, mother of BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia.

“As the Speaker I can’t do much, but as a member of BNP I want to do something for reconciliation between the factions,” said Sircar, one of the founding standing committee members of the party.

He urged the government to hand over power to an elected government as early as possible, and said the people have long been waiting to elect their representatives.

He said, “There is no alternative to democracy. The sooner the election is held, the better it will be for the country.”

“The main task of a caretaker government is to have an election held within 90 days, but somehow it wasn’t the case this time,” he observed.

Criticising the Election Commission (EC), he said, “We are participating in election since 1970. But we’ve never seen a voter roll take over four months to be prepared.”

He said he hopes the election will be held at the earliest possible time.

About the rift within BNP, Sircar said theirs is a big political party and it is quite natural that there might be some dispute. “You’ll see us united under Khaleda Zia by the time is announced an election schedule,” he added.

Replying to a query, he said, “Secretary General Khandakar Delwar Hossain is in favour of unity and so is Major (retd) Hafiz Uddin Ahmed.”

Referring to a recent statement of Hafiz, acting secretary general appointed by the standing committee, he said, “I think Hafiz himself is in doubt if he really is the secretary general as he leaves the issue for the court to decide.”

Responding to another query, he said, “Only the people will decide who will form the next government. They are going through a suffocating situation. They do not own this government as it does not represent them.”

He asked those attending the milad to pray for release of Khaleda, her sons Tarique Rahman and Arafat Rahman Koco.

Khandakar Delwar Hossain, Nazrul Islam Khan, Goyeshwar Chandra Roy, Selima Rahman, Mohammad Shahjahan and Ruhul Kabir Rizvi Ahmed were among hundreds of BNP leaders and activists present at the special prayers.