Communication Minister Obaidul Quader on Saturday said the process of beginning the dialogue on the structure of the polls-time government is no longer at the general secretary level.
“It has already reached to the party chief level. It can never go to general secretary level again,” he said.
Obaidul Quader, who is also Awami League Presidium Member, made the comments at a press conference held at a restaurant in Dhaka on Saturday to celebrate the five years of achievements for the ministry.
At the conference, he also said Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina already called the opposition leader and talked for around 37 minutes and the dialogue may now be held at the party chief level.
Rejecting Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir’s statement about Syed Ashraful Islam being telephoned, the minister said: “Syed Ashraf did not get any phone call from the BNP leader. If he got any call from the BNP leader, he [Ashraf] would have replied to him.”
However, he said the Awami League general secretary made a phone call to Mirza Fakhrul earlier in reply to the letter sent by the leader regarding the holding of talks to resolve the political crisis, he said.
Repeating the government’s stance on holding the dialogue with opposition BNP, the minister also said there is no obstacle to holding talks between the two major political parties as the invitation of the prime minister is still valid.
He added: “It might be held, if they [BNP] respond positively and unconditionally.”
At the press conference, he also presented the achievements of his ministry over the past five years.
“It’s not that everything will be done focusing on the election. We have some projects, like the Padma Multipurpose Bridge, Metro Rail Project, Elevated Express Way, Karnafuli Tunnel and the Bus Rapid Transit Project, which were taken on as next generation projects,” he said.
