Bangladesh News

Awami League (AL) yesterday said it is waiting on a formal proposal from the government for an agenda-based dialogue between its President Sheikh Hasina and BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia.

The same day Education Adviser Hossain Zillur Rahman said the caretaker administration is ready to do whatever is necessary for talks between the two leaders. He however did not elaborate on their plans.

Meanwhile, speculation is rife that the former prime ministers might meet on November 21 at an Armed Forces Day function in Dhaka cantonment. Both the leaders have been invited to attend the programme at Senakunja.

Talking to reporters at Hasina’s Sudha Sadan residence, AL spokesman Syed Ashraful Islam reiterated that they want the discussions to be subject-specific.

“We don’t want a closed-door meeting. The talks should be broadcast live so that people can watch the entire event.”

Also acting general secretary of the party, Ashraf said on receiving a proposal from the government, AL Central Working Committee, highest decision-making body, would decide on the matter.

BNP spokesman Nazrul Islam Khan, on the other hand, said, “It would be a meeting between the two ex-premiers, not any debate. So there’s no need to make it a television spectacular.”

Briefing reporters at Khaleda’s Gulshan office last night, he said after the talks the two can still let the nation know about their discussion and outcomes.

Earlier in the day, BNP Secretary General Khandaker Delwar Hossain said the discussions should cover all issues. He however said he does not know of any developments in this regard.

He was talking to newsmen after laying wreath at late president Ziaur Rahman’s grave with just released party colleagues Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain and Altaf Hossain Chowdhury.

Khandaker Mosharraf, BNP standing Committee member, said he believes a Khaleda-Hasina dialogue would only bring good results for the country.

Some BNP leaders meantime hinted that this time they would not show any eagerness for dialogue.

The party would take the matter seriously only if AL formally announces that its head agrees to sit with the BNP chief.

Adviser Hossain Zillur said the meeting between the two would help create an atmosphere of confidence.

For the sake of the people, he added, the government is ready to do anything to make it happen.

He made the comments to reporters after a national conference on ‘Present and Future Demand for Industry Skills’ at the Brac Centre Inn.

The meeting issue came to the fore again Wednesday when Syed Ashraf said their leader is ready to sit with her opposite number in BNP.

Hours later, BNP Joint Secretary General Nazrul Islam Khan said their chairperson too wants to meet Hasina and discuss the pressing problems facing the country.

Meanwhile, the country’s business community has expressed hope that the envisaged meeting between the AL and BNP chiefs will help solve the political crises centring the elections.

“The elections will be held and we will return to democracy. People want the two leaders to sit, which they believe will create a good atmosphere,” said Annisul Huq, president of Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI), after a meeting with the finance adviser yesterday.

Huq said if Hasina and Khaleda agree in the meeting that they will take a stand against corruption and try to refrain from taking to the streets and that the ports will not be closed, then those who are worrying about FDI will be inspired.

British Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce, an organisation of the UK expatriates, also held a meeting with the FBCCI.