Anwar Hossain Manju, chairman of a faction of the Jatiya Party, on Friday assured Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina that his party would take part in the upcoming elections.
Manju conveyed his party's stand at a meeting with Hasina at her Ganabhaban residence, saying election was a must for the continuation of democracy and the constitution of the country.
Hasina told Manju that the upcoming elections and the transfer of power would be held in line with the constitution.
Although 90% of the parliamentary seats belong to Awami League, the all-party government would be formed with parties that had representatives in parliament, she said.
The prime minister in a televised speech on October 18 proposed an all-party government to oversee the upcoming national elections. As per the plan, she is holding meetings with political parties to discuss the issue.
On Friday she met with a 12-strong delegation of the Jatiya Party led by Manju.
“We will initiate a tradition of holding elections constitutionally to prevent people from taking power unconstitutionally,” Hasina said.
She told the JP leaders that in the last 38 years, state power was handed over peacefully only once, in 2001. She said all the elections held during the tenure of this government were impartial.
“We believe people are the power, and we are working to give them the privilege of chosing their representatives,” she added.
Regarding her telephone conversation with opposition chief Khaleda Zia, she said: “We urged the opposition leader repeatedly to withdraw the strike and offered to hold a dialogue, but she declined.”
Hasina also criticised Khaleda’s claim that the government had been running illegally since October 25, saying: “Section 123 and 57 [of the constitution] clearly state that the government will have the privilege to hold power until the next parliament is elected.”
JP Secretary General Sheikh Shahidul Islam and other leaders attended the meeting while from Awami League, Syeda Sajeda Chowdhury, Amir Hossain Amu, Tofayel Ahmed, Suranjit Sengupta, Motia Chowdhury and Syed Ashraful Islam were present.
