Press Secretary Shafiqul Alam said that political parties need to take a clear position regarding ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina.
He was speaking at a dialogue titled “People’s Manifesto” at Hotel Intercontinental in Dhaka on Saturday.
He said everyone must clearly state their stance: “What do we want? Even today, she says, ‘everyone who participated in the July movement are terrorists.’ How terrifying! Saiful (a leftist leader) participated in the movement, he is called a terrorist. Amir Khasru stayed in the movement until the last moment, he is called a terrorist. Those of us who wrote about it, we are all terrorists. Think about it. She wants to come to power calling 180 million people terrorists. The word terrorist is easy to say, but when you call someone a terrorist, you are justifying killing them. She wants to kill 180 million people to come to power. Political parties need to take a strong position on this because it is a threat to our existence.”
Regarding elections, he said they will be held on time in the first half of February. “Many people say there is uncertainty regarding the July Charter. I see these debates in our newspapers, but such debates continue in many countries for 10–15 years. Your democratic conscience will guide you to the right decision; there is no need to rush. If everyone agreed completely, the country would have been under one-party rule. Differences will exist, one person will say one thing, another will say something else, and based on these differences, consensus is reached. If political parties cannot decide, the interim government will make decisions according to the responsibilities entrusted to it. This will happen quickly, not after a long time.”
He added that there should be no uncertainty regarding the election. “We have many challenges. Some think tanks claim that issues with farmers, women, or workers were not addressed. How can they say that? Political parties, through the interim government’s consensus commission, represent these groups, don’t they? They have women’s wings, workers’ wings. These think tanks make such statements to exaggerate their own importance. Everything is included in the July Charter. Some democratic matters are highlighted in newspapers, but everything else is included. And if you think we can fix everything quickly in nine months, that is impossible.”
He also said: “This dialogue can happen again after the election. In Nepal, it took nine years to draft a post-revolution constitution. The people of Bangladesh want a better governance system with accountability and no corruption. This cannot be achieved in a single dialogue. Political parties have provided thoughtful opinions, and 4,000 pages have been documented. Many people wonder why one day is not enough for dialogue—it really isn’t enough.”
On national challenges, he said: “Our challenge is to maintain peace and stability. We need to create jobs. The July movement began over employment. Millions of jobs must be created at a time when aggressive artificial intelligence is coming to take away your job. Logistics and infrastructure will be challenges for the next government. Can we sustain our growth with this infrastructure? We built Gopalganj–Kashiani railway line, but no one uses it. A railway line from Pabna was made, no one uses it. High-speed rail from Chittagong to Dhaka or an elevated expressway is needed. We built from Dhaka to Khulna, serving areas with 5 to 1,000 people per day. Is this my growth area? This was built to pass through Gopalganj. Five billion dollars, not a single two-dollar investment, and journalists praised it at the time saying southern Bangladesh growth would expand—what happened? How many factories went there? Growth is along the Dhaka–Chittagong corridor, not Gopalganj. Maximum speed on Dhaka–Chittagong highway is 30km/h; in five years, it won’t even reach 10km/h. Growth is in this area, not Gopalganj.”
He concluded: “We want a political consensus so that whether right-wing or left-wing, it remains committed to democracy. This must be ensured. Otherwise, the correct message will not reach outside the country. Without the correct message, foreign direct investment will not come. Without FDI, employment will not increase.”