Talks path is open, AL tells BNP

The LGRD Minister, Syed Ashraful Islam, on Saturday urged the opposition not to set any preconditions for holding a dialogue with the government.

As the tug-of-war over who would execute next national elections continues between two bickering political camps -- one led by ruling Awami League President and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and the other by main opposition BNP’s Chairperson Khaleda Zia, call from both the media and several professional groups for a dialogue to end the deadlock is getting louder.

Powerful foreign diplomats have also been calling for talks between the two major political parties to resolve all key disputes.

On Saturday, BNP’s Acting Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir sought a formal proposal from the ruling party for talks.

Within hours, Ashraf, also the ruling Awami League’s General Secretary, responded to Fakhrul’s call.

“The government is ready to hold talks if you (BNP chief Khaleda Zia) are ready,” Ashraf said.

The Awami League spokesman said the people of the country wanted talks. “It is possible to solve every problem through dialogue.”

When the LGRD minister’s attention was drawn to the BNP’s proposal, he said, talks could not take place with ‘so many preconditions’.

He said the ruling coalition had not rolled out any conditions on its part.

“Discussions should first take place without any fixed terms and conditions, then at party level and finally at the top level,” he said.

The minister had earlier said discussions were going on at different levels between leaders of the two parties. But the BNP has denied having any such talks.

In 2011, the administration of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina scrapped the 15-year-old caretaker government system in line with a Supreme Court verdict, but the BNP said it would not join next polls without the system in place.