The ruling Awami League says it doubts that the BNP’s discussions with the president on the formation of the Election Commission (EC) will bear fruit.
Published : 18 Dec 2016, 04:01 PM
“If the BNP continues to adopt a rigid attitude, these discussions will be unsuccessful,” General Secretary Obaidur Quader said on Sunday advising the BNP to change its attitude.
He made the comments in front of the Bangabandhu Avenue Awami League offices, mere hours before the start of the scheduled EC talks at 4pm.
“The BNP has grown more sensible,” he said. “Today they will meet with the president. If they had done so before the Jan 5 (2014) elections, the political history of Bangladesh may have been quite different.”
A new EC is to be chosen after the current one’s term ends in two months. The new EC is to oversee the upcoming general elections in 2019.
The president has invited the political parties to join in discussions about the formation of the new EC. The BNP, which boycotted the last elections, has also been invited to participate.
But, Quader says, previous discussions between Bangladeshi presidents and the BNP on these matters have not been pleasant experiences.
“The BNP did accept the invitation of the late President Zillur Rahman, but the matter did not go as they had hoped.”
The BNP should go into the discussions with ‘realistic expectations’, he said.
“The Awami League believes the president is a man of great character. We believe he will perform his duties admirably,” he said.
The BNP has lost its way and does not know what it wants, according to Quader.
“The BNP wants democracy? When they were in Opposition, the Parliament was in session for 169 days and they attended only 45 times. Khaleda Zia herself attended only five.”