Awami League General Secretary Syed Ashraful Islam said the new government has assumed power for five years as per the constitution.
“Of course, we are here for five years. You [journalists] please go through the constitution and then you will see what is there,” the UNB quoted the leader. Ashraf made the remarks yesterday while talking to reporters at the lawn of Bangabhaban, soon after taking oath as a new minister.
Regarding dialogue with BNP, he said the next election will be held when there is a consensus.
“But they [BNP] will have to cut ties with Jamaat and militancy. They will have to shun the path of destructive politics too,” Ashraf added.
His comments came as Finance Minister AMA Muhith categorically said there was an offer for a mid-term election within a short time depending on political consensus.
Talking to reporters at his secretariat office after being sworn in as a minister, Muhith said there was a qualitative change in the recent election compared to last year’s polls.
“We have not been comfortable because of the low turnout in the recent poll as the main opposition party boycotted the election, but we have a good record for setting up a good election system in the last five years” he said.
The minister also added that the main challenge of Bangladesh would face was to become a middle-income country within 2021.
Bangladesh had performed tremendously in reducing the poverty rate, but the big challenge was to enhance the country’s domestic growth rate within the next couple of years, he said.
Muhith expressed hopes that the country’s growth rate would be good if the present government had total authority and power in 64 districts.
Saying the tender process for Padma Bridge would be completed within four months and the entire project completed within two years, Muhith assured reporters that foreign donors were not concerned about the economic situation.
The minister also said it was a good feeling to be a minister again, adding that he thought he had a wonderful record as the finance minister of the country over the last five years.
