Bangladesh stands at a critical juncture, grappling with a political crisis that threatens the very foundation of its democracy.

Politicians must give talks a chance to break stalemate

BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir trashes Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's plan on the election-time government saying that it will deepen the prevailing political crisis further.

BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia yesterday once again called upon the government to resolve "the ongoing political crisis" in the country

Nepal's ethnic minorities have rejected a constitutional amendment, dashing hopes of an end to a political crisis that has led to fuel shortages and hampered deliveries of relief materials to survivors of last year's earthquakes.

The BNP yesterday criticized Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's recent address to the nation, saying it lacked directions as to how the country's “deep political crisis” will be resolved.

President Dilma Rousseff on Friday replaced Finance Minister Joaquim Levy, a fiscal conservative appointed just over a year ago, with a close ally, Planning Minister Nelson Barbosa, the Brazilian leader's office says in a statement.

THE country was rather pleasantly surprised by the BNP, whose so-called political programme has crossed the sixty day mark a week ago, announcing temporary relaxing of hartal ...

A front page report in this newspaper on Friday has very clearly brought out the trauma that the country has suffered in the last two months as a consequence of the political programmes called by the BNP. Our fears are compounded by BNP's threat of even tougher programmes should the government not accede to their demands by 8 March.

CALLS from all quarters, both national and international, for dialogue between the government and the opposition has apparently fallen on deaf ears. As we approach the 50th day of the blockade coupled with near-continual hartals enforced by the 20-party alliance, the economy continues to bleed and the general populace suffer.

IT does not need an expert to say that we have landed ourselves in the most difficult situation as a result of the current political deadlock.

BANGLADESH is now in the grip of a crisis, one whose magnitude and dimension surpasses anything of the kind in the history of the country. Both the ruling party and the opposition are adamant and unbending. Nearly 100 innocent people have been killed in petrol bomb attacks and street violence since the indefinite blockade and hartal was imposed by the BNP. Dozens have died in “crossfire” and “encounter”. Both sides have crossed their limits. But as the saying goes: Climb not too high.

Negotiation is the language of democracy, and politics the art of compromise. People are getting fed up and voices are being raised in the country. The initiative we took is a reflection of that voice, of people's expectations. We expect that the political parties will come together and in the best interest of the people, sit down and ultimately solve the problem amicably. There will have to be a negotiation or settlement of the issues. Otherwise we will be in deep trouble as a nation, facing an uncertain future.

Six days into a group of civil society members proposed for holding a national dialogue to end the political standoff, the BNP says it would welcome such initiative

A crude bomb goes off near the BGMEA Bhaban at Kawran Bazar in Dhaka where garments manufacturers have been holding a token hunger strike since this morning

POLITICS seems to have gone mad! It has ruthlessly been harming future nation-builders by shattering their academic life alongside killing innocent people and destroying the country's economic backbone.

It has been more than a month since the anti-government blockade started. With it came continuous spells of hartal, and while Molotov cocktails have become part-and-parcel of the 20-party alliance strategy, it appears that firearms are about to join the fray. The police have recently unearthed an illegal racket of arms whereby dealers are using children as arms carriers.