It is possible to avoid the political confrontation centring the polls-time government if the opposition has a mindset to abide by the constitution, said Agriculture Minister Matia Chowdhury.
Matia made the remark at the 44th episode of BBC Sanglap at BIAM auditorium in the city on Saturday while answering a question from the audience.
The question was: “Is conflict imminent if the chiefs of two main political parties do not accept each other’s proposals for solving political crisis?”
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina recently proposed an all-party polls-time government while BNP leader Khaleda Zia proposed a polls-time government comprising of 10 advisers from the caretaker governments of 1996 and 2001.
“If we want democracy, there is no reason for confrontation,” Matia said adding if there was a conflict, many vested interests would be benefited.
BNP Vice-Chairman Selima Rahman said: “Chances of conflict will be inevitable if negotiation does not take place. Then again, we cannot say for certain that negotiation will not happen. We want a neutral caretaker government to oversee the polls.”
“Our concern is who is going to head the polls-time government,” she added.
Supreme Court Lawyer Fatema Anwar and cultural activist Rokeya Prachi were also present as panellists.