'Govt insincere in holding dialogue'

The government has been showing lame excuses to avoid dialogue, they said, adding that if the 14-party can pass responsibility to Awami League (AL) why the four-party alliance cannot rely on BNP for holding dialogue.

They were speaking at a roundtable organised by Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JSD) at its office in the city yesterday.

"Once a consensus is made between the BNP and AL on the reform issues, the government can discuss those with its coalition partners before implementation. The 14-party will have no objection then," said JSD General Secretary Syed Zafar Sajjad, in his keynote speech.

AL Presidium Member Tofail Ahmed reiterated that there would be no election without the reforms in the Election Commission (EC) and caretaker system.

"The alliance government has politicised every sector of the administration by appointing and promoting partisan people and removing the honest and neutral officials," he pointed out.

Speaking for strengthening movement on the streets in line with the dialogue, he said transferring power through elections under the present system of caretaker government and the EC will push the nation into darkness.

Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB) General Secretary Mujahidul Islam Selim said the major three institutions -- partisan president, to be partisan chief advisor to the caretaker government and the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) -- in the present system of caretaker government are the main obstacles for a free and fair election.

"It is not enough to appoint just a neutral referee, the rules and regulations of the game should also be neutral," he said.

"Prime Minister has to agree to the rationale and necessity of the reform proposals in principle and stop statements against the proposals and present them to people distortedly," said JSD Syed Zafar Sajjad.

JSD President Hasanul Huq Inu alleged that the BNP-Jamaat alliance has already started using black money, religion and state resources for its publicity in the wake of the next general elections.

Jatiya Oikya Mancha leader Pankaj Bhatyacharya said Prime Minister has already bought two helicopters with Tk 71 crore for use in the election campaign, while ruling party people are given licenses of television channels aimed at syndicating news.

Samyabadi Dal General Secretary Dilip Barua, Professor Harunur Rashid of Dhaka University, Iqbal Sobhan Chowdhury, editor of The Bangladesh Observer, Sammilito Sangskritik Jote General Secretary Golam Kuddus and AL leader Nurul Islam also spoke.