Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has said again on Sunday that her government will hold the next parliamentary elections as per the provision of the country’s constitution.
“There is no chance for constitutional complications to arise since the highest court of the land abolished the caretaker government provision,” she told an emergency press conference at her official residence Gano Bhaban in the afternoon.
The Supreme Court had declared the caretaker government system illegal and parliament passed the 15th amendment to the constitution abolishing the provision, she said.
Criticising the BNP-led 18-party alliance’s ongoing movement, Hasina said: “What is the reason for inviting trouble to people’s lives by demonstrating for reinstating the provision?”
The PM also announced that Bangladeshi scientists had sequenced the DNA of the local variety of jute.
She recalled that Bangladesh’s jute had lost out on the international market after an agreement with the World Bank during the BNP’s rule, which led to the closure of jute mills in the country.
In 2010, Hasina disclosed in parliament that Bangladeshi researchers had sequenced Tosha jute’s DNA, which would help develop the fibre, production of new jute seeds compatible with hostile weather caused by the climate change, curb diseases and help develop the jute industry.
After the press conference that began around 4:10pm, the ruling Awami League president will meet members of the party’s highest decision-making body, the Central Working Committee, to decide the party’s next course of action in the wake of a political standoff over the opposition demand for restoration of the caretaker government system.
Meanwhile, a meeting of the Awami League advisory council on Saturday advised the party president not to consider any dialogue proposal from the BNP if it contradicted the constitutional provisions about holding the national polls.
