BNP chief Khaleda Zia on Wednesday asked her arch-rival and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to initiate fresh talks to end the political deadlock in Bangladesh, saying the January 5 general election boycotted by Opposition parties has installed an “illegal” Government.
The chief of the main Opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) asked the ruling Awami league to stop “harassing” her party leaders and workers. The 68-year-old former premier also appealed to the Government to withdraw cases against her party members to create a conducive atmosphere for the talks.
“We (BNP) were never opposed to talks and still now dialogue is the only way to end the deadlock,” Zia told a press conference on Wednesday. The BNP-led 18-party Opposition alliance boycotted the general election, demanding a neutral caretaker regime to oversee the polls. The Opposition tried to derail the polls by calling strikes and blockades. Over 160 people were killed in poll-related violence since November.
The Awami league won over two-thirds of 300 seats in Parliament in the polls, which were described as a “farce” by the Opposition. Zia, however, evaded a direct answer to a question on Hasina’s demand that she should sever her party’s ties with fundamentalist ally Jamaat-e-Islami for resumption of talks. Zia said Jamaat is a “political party”.
The Awami league had joined hands with Jamaat in the past, demanding the installation of a non-party caretaker Government while “we (BNP) were in power”, she said. Asked if her party lost direction by boycotting the polls, Zia said, “We have not lost the direction, rather they (Awami league) has lost everything”. The “farcical” election made them isolated from the people as well from the international community, Zia added.