Awami League insists it will be in charge of election-time government

Top Awami League leaders have renewed the party's position that the next parliamentary elections will be held with the Sheikh Hasina government in charge as per the Constitution.

They were speaking at a programme in Dhaka on Friday marking the Jail Killing Day.

Industries Minister Amir Hossain Amu, a member of the ruling party's Advisory Council, said, "The election will be held in no other system than the one set out in the current Constitution."

"When the Awami League demanded a caretaker government for the 1996 polls, BNP chief Khaleda Zia said no one but madmen and children are impartial. How can she demand caretaker government now?" he asked. 

Awami League Presidium Member and Agriculture Minister Matia Chowdhury said, "The next election will be held following the Constitution, and the Awami League will regain power with the people's mandate."

Another member of the Awami League Presidium, Sheikh Fazlul Karim Selim, said, "There won't be any government as demanded by you (BNP)… There won't be any talks with the killers of 1971 and 1975."

Health Minister Mohammed Nasim, another member of the party's Presidium, said, "I am telling you, the journalists, please write it down that the next election will be held as per the Constitution in the month of victory in 2019."

Nasim, the son of M Mansur Ali, one of the four national leaders killed on this day in 1975, added:"The killers did not stop after killing Bangabandhu. These killers of 1971 and 1975 carried out the Aug 21 (2004) massacre."

On this day in 1975, four leaders of the wartime national government—acting president Syed Nazrul Islam, prime minister Tajuddin Ahmad and Cabinet ministers Mansur Ali and AHM Qamruzzaman—were killed inside Dhaka Central Jail.

The leaders, closest to Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the nation’s founding father, were arrested after the country's the then president was killed along with most of his family members by a group of army officers on Aug 15, 1975.

Awami League General Secretary and Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader said those behind the killings of Aug 15 and Nov 3 of 1975 must be brought to justice.

"Otherwise, the dark history may be repeated," he said.

Quader said Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina could not attend the meeting due to illness. Hasina underwent a gallbladder surgery recently.

"She did not take proper rest after the surgery. She worked a lot after surgery," Quader said.

He hoped the prime minister would recover and take part in the 63rd Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference in Dhaka on Sunday.

Among others, Awami League Presidium Member Abdur Razzaque, and joint general secretaries Mahbub-Ul Alam Hanif, Dipu Moni, and Jahangir Kabir Nanak spoke at the programme.