Recognise govt for talks: Tofail to BNP

Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed has said the BNP has to first recognise the incumbent government and cut off its ties with the Jamaat-e-Islami if it wants dialogues on a fresh general election.

Talking to reporters at his Secretariat office on Tuesday, he said: “We also want dialogue. Dialogue is a continuous process. But with whom the dialogue will take place?”

“When a party calls a government illegal and claims election has not been held, how that party will sit for dialogues with the ruling party? First they need to accept the government.”

Tofail, a senior leader of the ruling Awami League, blamed BNP chief Khaleda Zia and her son, party Senior Vice-President Tarique Rahman’s ‘contradictory stances’ for failure in holding the talks.

“The (BNP) Chairperson is speaking for dialogues. But his son is saying there will be no talks with this government,” he said.

The Awami League has formed the government for the second consecutive term after winning the Jan 5 election that the BNP-led 18-Party alliance had boycotted to press its key demand – holding of the polls under a non-party caretaker administration.

Terming the election ‘voter-less’, the BNP demanded cancellation of the polls but the Election Commission said around 40 percent of the voters exercised their franchise.

Khaleda, in the first public rally of her party after the election, alleged that the government had remained in office with the power of arms. She demanded rerun of the polls immediately.

To a question, Tofail said the government had set a pre-condition – BNP’s distance from the Jamaat and its student front Islami Chhatra Shibir – for the dialogues.

“But they didn’t part ways (with Jamaat and Shibir). Rather (BNP acting Secretary General) Mr Mirza Fakhrul said Jamaat and Shibir will be with them. Then how will the dialogue happen?”

Referring to the BNP and Jamaat, Tofail said: “The terrorism that they unleashed over the election hasn’t benefited them. They’ve realised it. I think they’ve shun the terrorist political path.”

The Awami League leader said the present Parliament would be ‘more effective’ with the Jatiya Party as the Opposition than the previous one which had the BNP in the Opposition.

“The Opposition was absent in Parliament almost the whole term. The Opposition joined session on 76 days out of the total 418 working days. The Leader of the Opposition was present only on 10 days. Does it mean the Opposition was in the House?”

He said Parliament now had an Opposition that will attend proceedings. “They will criticise the government constructively. That’s why Parliament will be lively and more effective.”