Awami League will take formal initiatives to bring the main opposition BNP to the negotiation table only if it responds positively to the proposals put forward by the prime minister, senior ruling party sources said.
Some Awami League leaders on condition of anonymity said if BNP’s reaction was affirmative they would request talks with the opposition party to bring a solution to the ongoing political impasse.
The government is now awaiting BNP’s reaction over the premier’s proposal.
But the Awami League chief is yet to assign anybody with the task of keeping close contact with BNP or taking initiatives to hold talks, party Presidium Member Kazi Zafarullah told the Dhaka Tribune. However, Finance Minister AMA Muhith earlier said the party chief assigned General Secretary Syed Ashraful Islam to hold dialogues with the opposition.
About Awami League’s stance, Kazi Zafarullah said his party was ready to sit at the table with BNP.
“Everything depends on BNP’s attitude. We will take initiatives only after getting BNP’s positive response,” Zafarullah said, adding that consensus between the two parties was mandatory for a free and fair election.
Awami League General Secretary Syed Ashraful Islam last night said possibility of dialogue depends on BNP’s response to the Prime Minister’s offer.
“If BNP rejects Prime Minister’s proposal, there will be no basis for talks... Dialogue cannot take place empty-handed,” he said after the meeting between Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Jatiya Party chief HM Ershad.
On Friday, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in her address to the nation proposed the formation of an all-party government to hold polls, and she appealed to the opposition to give names from their lawmakers for the interim cabinet.
She also requested opposition leader Khaleda Zia to respond to her call and request with a positive gesture.
But at a programme on Sunday, the opposition chief said her party would not participate in the national elections without a neutral caretaker government a flat rejection of Sheikh Hasina’s proposal to form an all-party government to oversee the poll.
Khaleda Zia will clarify her party’s stance at a press conference scheduled to be held today.
Meanwhile, Awami League sources confirmed that even though it was keen on holding talks with BNP to reach a consensus, it would not compromise with Hasina being the head of the poll-time government, or over Jamaat participating in the interim cabinet.
Awami Leaague Presidium Member and Communication Minister Obaidul Quader on Sunday hinted at an evolving situation.
Asked if Awami League would send a letter to the opposition for talks, Quader at his office at the secretariat said: “Wait and see, a sequence of events will unfold in the days to come.”
As a conciliatory gesture, the prime minister herself on Sunday ‘intervened’ in the decision to allow BNP-backed Sammilito Peshajibi Parishad to hold its annual convention, even though Dhaka Metropolitan Police has slapped a ban on all kinds of gatherings, rallies and processions in the capital.