Ashraf for dialogue on next general election
THURSDAY, 18 APRIL 2013 AUTHOR / SOURCE: STAFF REPORTER
Dhaka, Apr 17: Awami League general secretary Syed Ashraful Islam on Wednesday urged the opposition to create a congenial atmosphere for holding a dialogue on the next general election.
The opposition should shun violence and create a congenial atmosphere for talks to end the prevailing political stalemate, Ashraful, who is also the LGRD minister, said. Dialogue is the only way to resolve the political impasse. Our countrymen want a free, fair and credible election and so the opposition will have to play an auxiliary role in this regard, he added.
Ashraful was speaking to journalists after placing wreaths on the portrait of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman at Bangabandhu Memorial Museum in Dhanmondi on the occasion of Mujibnagar Day.
The AL leader said the Prime Minister has clarified the governments position on the nature of an election-time administration. Therefore, there was no point in making the situation more complex by formulating new formulas in this regard he said.
The minister, however, added that he hoped the opposition would create an environment for negotiations by attending the parliamentary session scheduled to begin on April 21.
Referring to the oppositions hartal programme, Ashraf said BNP refrained from enforcing shutdowns for the fear of losing public support. Though hartal is a democratic right, it has significantly affected public life. The main opposition party realizes this and thats why it refrained from enforcing shutdowns, he said, adding that nobody supported strikes in Bangladesh and such programmes would not help the opposition to realise its demands.
The minister also hoped that the opposition would not enforce hartal like programmes any more in the greater interest of the countrys people.
Earlier in the morning, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina paid tributes to Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman by placing a wreath on his portrait. Flanked by central leaders of the party, Sheikh Hasina, also the president of Bangladesh Awami League, placed another wreath on the portrait of Bangabandhu on behalf of her party.
Awami League advisory council members Amir Hossain Amu, Tofail Ahmed, Suarnjit Sengupta and Dr Mohiuddin Khan Alamgir, presidium members Begum Matia Chowdhury, Sahara Khatun and Satish Chandra Roy, PMs adviser Syed Modasser Ali and state minister for power, energy and mineral resources Enamul Haque were also present at the commemoration ceremony.
THURSDAY, 18 APRIL 2013 AUTHOR / SOURCE: STAFF REPORTER
Dhaka, Apr 17: Awami League general secretary Syed Ashraful Islam on Wednesday urged the opposition to create a congenial atmosphere for holding a dialogue on the next general election.
The opposition should shun violence and create a congenial atmosphere for talks to end the prevailing political stalemate, Ashraful, who is also the LGRD minister, said. Dialogue is the only way to resolve the political impasse. Our countrymen want a free, fair and credible election and so the opposition will have to play an auxiliary role in this regard, he added.
Ashraful was speaking to journalists after placing wreaths on the portrait of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman at Bangabandhu Memorial Museum in Dhanmondi on the occasion of Mujibnagar Day.
The AL leader said the Prime Minister has clarified the governments position on the nature of an election-time administration. Therefore, there was no point in making the situation more complex by formulating new formulas in this regard he said.
The minister, however, added that he hoped the opposition would create an environment for negotiations by attending the parliamentary session scheduled to begin on April 21.
Referring to the oppositions hartal programme, Ashraf said BNP refrained from enforcing shutdowns for the fear of losing public support. Though hartal is a democratic right, it has significantly affected public life. The main opposition party realizes this and thats why it refrained from enforcing shutdowns, he said, adding that nobody supported strikes in Bangladesh and such programmes would not help the opposition to realise its demands.
The minister also hoped that the opposition would not enforce hartal like programmes any more in the greater interest of the countrys people.
Earlier in the morning, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina paid tributes to Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman by placing a wreath on his portrait. Flanked by central leaders of the party, Sheikh Hasina, also the president of Bangladesh Awami League, placed another wreath on the portrait of Bangabandhu on behalf of her party.
Awami League advisory council members Amir Hossain Amu, Tofail Ahmed, Suarnjit Sengupta and Dr Mohiuddin Khan Alamgir, presidium members Begum Matia Chowdhury, Sahara Khatun and Satish Chandra Roy, PMs adviser Syed Modasser Ali and state minister for power, energy and mineral resources Enamul Haque were also present at the commemoration ceremony.
