BNP sought the mediation of the President for dialogue with the government

Khaleda Zia wants to meet the President on Monday after the oath of the new eight ministers and state ministers to serve in the election-time 'all-change' government, ignoring the demand of non-party government.

Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmed met the President before the meeting with the opposition leader. In the context of the threat of boycott by opposition parties, he wants the cooperation of the President to bring all the parties in the 10th parliamentary elections.

Their scheduled meeting with the President was at 6:30 pm. But Khaleda Zia reached the Bangabhaban area some time before the specified time. Meanwhile, Khaleda Zia was seen spending 20-25 minutes sitting in the car outside Bangabhaban.

Acting Secretary General of BNP Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir told the President, “The government has reconstituted the cabinet with members of their alliance. Arresting top leaders of opposition parties on false charges has created obstacles in the way of dialogue. So we come to you today as guardians of the state.”

Acting Secretary General of BNP, Fakhrul, came out after an hour's meeting and told the reporters, "At the moment of crisis, we came to the President as the guardian of the state. We have requested him to take steps to initiate dialogue with the government to resolve the impasse." Fakhrul said that the president expressed hope that the ongoing crisis can be avoided through negotiations.

In response to a question whether the President has been given a deadline for the initiative, Fakhrul said that no deadline has been given. He said, BNP will see and then take a political decision. In response to another question, Mirza Fakhrul said, "The president did not request them to join the election government and did not say anything about it."

Khaleda Zia led a 20-member delegation of party and alliance leaders in the meeting with the President. Among the BNP leaders were Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, Khandkar Mosharraf Hossain, ASM Hannan Shah, Zamiruddin Sarkar, Mirza Abbas, Gayeshwar Chandra Roy, Abdul Moin Khan and Nazrul Islam Khan. Jamaat-e-Islami Naib Amir AKM Nazir Ahmad, LDP Chairman Oli Ahmad, BJP Chairman Andalib Rahman Parth, Islami Oikyajot Chairman Abdul Latif Nezami, Khilafat Majlish Chairman Muhammad Ishaq, Kalyan Party Chairman Syed Muhammad Ibrahim, Jagpa President Shafiul Alam Pradhan, NPP Chairman Sheikh Shaukat Hossain Nilu, NDP Chairman Khandaker Golam Murtaza, NAP Chairman Jebel Rahman Gani and Labor Party Chairman Mustafizur Rahman were in the Iran delegation.

The full statement of the 18-party alliance is reproduced below for Dhaka Times readers

His Excellency the President,
On behalf of the 18-party alliance led by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, I pay my respects to you at this juncture of national life.

Today we are here to present some speeches to you under the leadership of three-time former prime minister elected by people's vote, chairperson of Bangladesh Nationalist Party-BNP, head of 18-party alliance, uncompromising leader of anti-dictatorship democratic movement, leader of the opposition in the current national parliament, Nandit Deshneti Begum Khaleda Zia. I came

It is not unknown to you that the country is in a deep crisis today. A burning question today is whether a peaceful transfer of power will be possible through a fair, free, impartial, credible, competitive and acceptable election based on the participation of all parties and whether democratic continuity will be maintained.

The Constitution of the Republic has already been seriously violated by holding resignation ministers, holding cabinet meetings and taking various decisions of national importance.

After that, the crisis has been aggravated by reconstituting the cabinet with the members of the Grand Alliance in the name of the election-time government.

His Excellency the President,
You are no stranger to the recent political trend in Bangladesh. You have played an effective role in contemporary politics by serving as an active politician, experienced Parliamentarian, Deputy Speaker and Speaker of the National Parliament. As a result, you yourself are well informed about its movement.

You yourself were actively involved in the 1995-96 movement demanding a non-partisan neutral caretaker government during the national elections. You know how terribly violent that movement became in various programs and incidents including 173 days of strikes, blockades, non-cooperation, mass curfews, vandalism, arson, bombings, burning of passengers with gunpowder on buses, police murders, port shutdowns.

You also know that the opposition has not responded to any call for dialogue or discussion. It is not unknown to you that they have not agreed to any national-international decision, mediation initiative or compromise proposal.

You also know that even though the Constitution of the Republic includes the provision of a non-partisan neutral caretaker government during the national elections, who will be the head of that government and the current Grand Alliance withdrew from contesting in the National Assembly elections in 2007, objecting to the formation of the Election Commission. Then many people had to die miserably due to their violent agitations and the fiendishness of the Logi-Vaitha.

In the light of these bitter and brutal experiences of the past, it is understandable and clear to everyone that a fair, free, neutral, peaceful and credible election of the National Assembly is not possible without the establishment of compromise and consensus among the rival parties.

Any uncontested unilateral election initiative not only disrupts social peace and political stability but also makes the future of democracy uncertain.

His Excellency the President,
You are well aware that the current government has shown extreme indifference by unilaterally revising the constitution and abolishing the provision of a non-partisan neutral caretaker government during the national elections. This is how the current crisis started.

As you know, there was no promise to abolish this caretaker government system in the election manifesto of Awami League. So they did not get any mandate from the people in this regard. Professional leaders, prominent citizens and constitutional experts all favored the maintenance of the caretaker government when the Constitution Amendment Committee took up its opinion. All political parties also expressed similar views. Even, the Awami League under the leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina expressed the opinion that the provision of caretaker government should be maintained. Constitutional-expert senior lawyers employed by the High Court as amicus curiae in Thirteenth Amendment cases all opined in favor of a caretaker government system during national elections. The people were assured by the Constitution Amendment Committee that the caretaker government system would be maintained. In this regard, the summary judgment given by the High Court Division also said that the next two parliamentary elections would be held under the caretaker government for the sake of the security of the state and the people. In spite of all this, the country has been pushed into a path of extreme uncertainty by abolishing the caretaker government system during the national elections through the controversial fifteenth amendment of the constitution by a single decision of the honorable Prime Minister.

His Excellency the President,
You will surely admit that, with the current Grand Alliance in power, the way the National Assembly is conducting the election will inevitably be an unequal contest and will not create a level playing field for all the contending parties. With the partying of the Election Commission and the civil and police administration, no one believes that there is even the slightest chance of fair elections in the country.

For that reason, we have been calling for the establishment of a consensus and understanding through dialogue and the demand for holding the National Assembly elections under a non-partisan neutral government for a long time. You yourself know how our demands and calls have been repeatedly ignored.

His Excellency the President,
As you know, the vast majority of citizens of the country, including all political parties and people of all classes and professions outside the Grand Alliance, are in favor of the election of the National Parliament under a non-partisan neutral government. They expect a free, fair, impartial and peaceful election in a festive atmosphere with the participation of all parties by establishing a consensus in this regard through dialogue. Against this desire of the people, the Hon'ble Prime Minister made a proposal to include some members from the opposition in a cabinet under him. He gave a conditional invitation to the Leader of the Opposition to call off the hartal program and visit Ganabhaban on a specific date to discuss his proposal. The Leader of the Opposition accepted his invitation and agreed to attend any day after the strike. He clearly said that he is willing to negotiate to reach an agreement on a non-partisan neutral government. After that, no further initiative was taken by the honorable Prime Minister in this regard.

His Excellency the President,
You are aware that after that, when the business leaders proposed to start negotiations at the level of the general secretary of the two main political parties, BNP and Awami League, the opposition leader agreed, but the honorable Prime Minister did not respond. He is moving towards one-sided elections from power with a rigid attitude.

We want to state in no uncertain terms that the opposition parties will not participate in this election and the people of Bangladesh will not accept any sham election by depriving them of their right to vote.

You must be aware that the government has created an unusual situation almost like a state of emergency in the country. The basic human rights of the people are being brutally suppressed. Opposition political parties are not being allowed to conduct their activities normally. Various offices, including the headquarters of the opposition party, are being blockaded almost regularly. Systematic and peaceful programs of opposition parties are being hindered. On the day of our political program, the government party is carrying out counter-programmes under the umbrella of law and order forces with illegal weapons and carrying out terror and sabotage. In the name of suppressing protests, the police killed more than two and a half leaders and activists of the opposition party in just one month. Such bloodshed and brutality cannot be imagined in any civilized and democratic country.

Even in this situation, in the interest of maintaining democracy, peace, stability and public security in the country, we are still in favor of fair, free and impartial elections based on the participation of all parties under a non-partisan neutral government by reaching an agreement through dialogue. The government reshuffled the cabinet with members of its coalition and arrested top opposition leaders on trumped-up charges to obstruct the dialogue.

We, therefore, come to you today as guardians of the state. Our earnest request to you, Mr. President, is to tell the government to immediately shun the path of conflict, violence and create a healthy environment for dialogue. They should immediately move towards a compromise with the aim of holding free, fair and impartial elections based on the participation of all parties under a non-partisan government.

We are aware of your powers and limitations derived from the Constitution of the Republic. But sometimes a situation arises when the clauses and clauses of the constitution framed by politicians and amended for narrow interests are not in line with the aspirations of the people. It is then unable to provide guidance on how to resolve the crisis. In such a situation, the constitution needs to be reformed by giving the highest priority to the expectations of the people who own the republic. Even the supreme person of the state then had to fulfill history-defined duties. We think that such a time has come in the national life today. As a symbol of the unity of the people in this transition of the country and nation, you will play such a historic role by taking initiative, that is the expectation of the countrymen. We hope so too.

Thank you very much.
For the 18-party coalition,
(Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir)
Acting Secretary General,
Bangladesh Nationalist Party-BNP.