BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia told the visiting UK delegation that her party was ready for a dialogue with the government any time if the government wished.
“The BNP chairperson told the members of the British parliament that for a dialogue, the government must create an atmosphere,” party Vice-Chairman Shamsher Mobin Chowdhury told journalists.
A six-member delegation of the all-party parliamentary group of UK met Khaleda at her Gulshan residence Friday.
The delegation comprised Anne Main, Rushanar Ali, Nick De Boise, Simon Danzcuk, Jonathan Reynolds and Sabana Mahmood. BNP acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, chairperson’s advisers Riaz Rahman and Sabihuddin Ahmed, and British High Commissioner to Bangladesh Robert W Gibson were present at the meeting.
British opposition MP Rushanara Ali said: “We want to see a free, fair and inclusive election. We believe that the political crisis could be resolved through dialogue.
“We are not putting any pressure. We believe that political parties will reach an understanding on holding a dialogue.”
The people of Bangladesh expected a free, fair and peaceful election. If the political parties failed to meet that expectations, people of the country would blame the political parties, she added.
Shamsher said: “BNP always wants a solution to the prevailing crisis through dialogue. We are ready for this but the government is yet to take any initiative.”
