Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Saturday warned of the possible loss of democracy if an unconstitutional government took over the country.
“If any unconstitutional and undemocratic government assumes office, no election will take place in the next 10 years,” she told an Iftar programme organised by a faction of the Dhaka Journalist Union on Saturday at the National Press Club.
“If such a government comes [to power], democracy will be no longer in the country,” she said, urging the main opposition BNP to remember the experience of the last caretaker government.
A couple of weeks ago, Hasina ruled out the opposition’s key demand for the general election to be held under a non-partisan government, reminding her archrival Khaleda Zia of the ordeals the two top leaders had gone through during the previous army-backed interim government (2007-08). The two leaders, who alternated as prime minister since 1991, were confined for more than a year in separate sub-jails established near the Jatiya Sangsad, a symbol of Bangladesh’s democracy.
“Both of us will have to go to jail again if a caretaker government comes to power again,” she said on several occasions in past weeks.
Describing the bitter experiences of the last army-backed caretaker government, the prime minister said on July 27: “Fakhruddin Ahmed was the chief of the last caretaker regime but the country was run under the directives of [ATM] Amin and [Chowdhury Fazlul] Bari of DGFI.
“Nobody dared to speak against them. I was only the person who spoke against them... for which I had to suffer a lot... They put me behind bars,” she said, adding that democracy would not have been restored if she had not returned to the country.
The main opposition BNP have been pressing for the restoration of the caretaker government provision which was taken off the constitution following a High Court order. Hasina reiterated her government’s stance to follow the existing constitutional provision, which dictates that the election be held under her administration.
She said the ruling Awami League was the only party that had the courage to hold a free, fair and credible election, and vowed that the next parliamentary polls would be held in a peaceful manner.
Hasina, saying the media was enjoying full freedom, urged journalists to refrain from publishing false and fabricated stories.
“Because the media enjoys full freedom, it criticises the government bitterly.”
Picking up on the arrest of ruling party lawmaker Golam Maula Rony, she said: “Rony was arrested because he harassed reporters. The pen is mightier than the sword. But where will we [politicians] seek justice after we are hurt by your writings?”
Hasina told the journalists that the trial in the killing of journalist Goutam had already been completed and that the perpetrators of other journalists’ killings would also be brought to justice.
The leader of the ruling party assured journalists that the 8th wage board would be enforced at the earliest possible time. “If the proposal is placed in the cabinet before Eid it will be approved. Otherwise, it will be declared soon after Eid.”
Information Minister Hasanul Haq Inu, Sheikh Hasina’s media adviser Iqbal Sobhan Chowdhury and journalist leaders including Abdul Jalil Bhuiyan and Omar Faruq spoke at the programme conducted by Shaban Mahmud.
