Opposition BNP on Monday warned that a deep constitutional crisis will be created in the country if UN secretary General Ban Ki-moon’s proposal for talks over the next polls fails. “The UN Secretary General has talked to the two leaders (Hasina-Khaleda) over phone and urged them to engage in talks for holding an acceptable national election with the participation of all parties. A severe constitutional crisis is likely to be created if his initiative fails,” said senior BNP leader Rafiqul Islam Miah.
He voiced the concern while talking to reporters after placing wreaths at the grave of party founder Ziaur Rahman, marking the 24 founding anniversary of Jatiyatabadi Muktijoddha Dal. On Friday, the UN secretary general phoned Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Opposition Leader Khaleda Zia urged them to hold dialogues to overcome the ongoing political crisis over the next general election.
The UN Secretary General told both the leaders that the global community wants to see a free and fair election in Bangladesh with the participation of all parties. Rafiqul, also a BNP standing committee member, said his party has welcomed Ban Ki-moon’s initiative for resoling the country’s political deadlock. “We want to see his initiative yield positive outcome as we want a free and fair election with the participation of all parties.”
Stating that the issue of holding the national election under a caretaker government system was settled one, he said the ruling party has created a political crisis in the country by scraping the system using its majority in parliament. “Now they (AL) will have to take initiatives to reinstate the system to overcome the crisis.”
Rafiqul also observed that the country’s people are concerned whether the next general election will be held in time. The BNP leader thanked Dr Mohammed Yunus for his remark that a free and fair national election is not possible unless it is held under a non-party caretaker government.
Mentioning that any citizen of the country has the right to speak about the country’s situation and crisis, he slammed the ruling party leaders for criticising Yunus for his comment on caretaker government. “The ruling party leaders and ministers can not tolerate criticism. There’s nothing wrong to speak about the country’s crisis,” Rafiqul said. Claiming that the opposition is on the movement to establish people’s rights, the BNP policymaker said they will intensify the movement in time. – UNB
