Eminent economist of the country Rehman Sobhan yesterday said dialogue is a must for a free and fair election and the government has to come forward first.
“It’s not expected that a country which achieved independence through a bloody struggle in 1971 will go through a nondemocratic procedure,” he said while addressing a debate programme organised by the private satellite television channel ATN Bangla in a city auditorium.
The economist said the country should conduct a violence free election where people can cast vote without fear. It’s the challenge for the political parties to find a way out of the crisis. For that, the political parties should hold talks.
Rehman Sobhan, who is the chairman of the Center for Policy Dialogue (CPD), also said the political parties should keep in mind that they are public servants. The parties shift blames to one another, but it should not happen.
“The parties have not held talks over important issues for years. This trend is not common in any other country other than Bangladesh,” he said.
The finale of the debate programme Debate for Democracy was focused on the political will of the ruling party to reach a political consensus with the opposition. Two universities – North South University and IBAIS University – took part in the debate.
North South University took the role of the ruling party while IBAIS the opposition. The IBAIS won the debate.
