Quader reiterates talks offer

Communications Minister Obaidul Quader on Sunday described BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia’s 48-hour ultimatum in response to the Prime Minister’s offer of talks as 'a bad signal for politics' in Bangladesh.

Noakhali Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 5 May 2013, 05:30 AM
Updated : 5 May 2013, 05:30 AM

The people were hoping to come out of a path of violence upon offer for dialogues, he said. “But, like a thunder-strike, opposition leader has given the government a 48-hour ultimatum,” Quader, also an Awami League presidum member, said at an inaugural ceremony of Kabirhat Model High School in Noakhali.

“This is a bad signal for the political scene of the country.”

The most effective weapon for solution of a political crisis is dialogue, he said. “So come, withdraw your ultimatum and sit for talks.”

“We can sit in the parliament, outside the House… Inside, outside anywhere with any agenda… we want to discuss with an open mind.”

On Saturday, BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia splashed cold water on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s offer for dialogue and went ballistic to issue a 48-hour ultimatum to accept demands for restoring the caretaker system for parliamentary polls.