Quader rules out dialogue once again

Governing Bangladesh Awami League (AL) General Secretary Obaidul Quader on Thursday once again rejected any possibility of holding dialogues with opposition parties over the forthcoming 12th parliamentary elections.

Reiterating what he told the media earlier on Wednesday after a meeting with the US Ambassador to Bangladesh, Peter D Haas, the AL leader today said, “The time of dialogue is over.”

He, however, said they would issue a reply to the letter sent by Donald Lu, the US Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs, urging the political parties to hold a dialogue over the upcoming national parliamentary election.

Obaidul Quader was addressing a media conference at the party’s Dhaka district unit office in Tejgaon in the capital to share AL’s formal reactions to the election schedule announced by the Election Commission (EC) on Thursday.

Calling upon all the political parties, the senior AL leader said, “The door is open to all. Come and compete in the participatory election. I would say to the BNP, change your opinion and take part in the polls. The door is open.”

“We don’t want to go to power alone. Instead, we want to compete in the battle of election including all. We want everyone to join the voting. But there is no scope to go beyond the constitution,” said Obaidul Quader.

He further said, “There is time. As the governing party we’re requesting, join the election. We shall not be obstacles for anyone. The door has not even closed for those who speak ill of us day and night. We welcome all. We don’t encourage anyone to stay away from the election.”

Addressing the media conference, the AL general secretary stated, “Until now we’ve heard chaos will be unfurled in the country if the election schedule is announced. But we haven’t seen any such thing anywhere. But, yes, I’ve seen people welcoming the election whole night.”

Speaking about the dialogue, Obaidul Quader said, “We held dialogues. Sheikh Hasina held dialogues in Ganabhaban in 2018. The dialogue was held with 73 parties at that time and with the BNP, twice."

“The prime minister called upon Khaleda Zia for dialogues before the parliamentary elections in 2014. But the way Khaleda Zia used abusive words, Sheikh Hasina absorbed everything that time. Then where is our fault? Where is the fault of Sheikh Hasina? We must never forget the history of cruelty in the name of democracy in this country.”

While speaking about the ongoing movement of BNP, Obaidul Quader said, “A police member died and an attack was carried out on the house of the chief justice on 28 October. Then we realised the BNP’s movement had ended. You must know the details and strategy of waging a movement. But the BNP leaders do not know that. Now the election schedule has been announced. What would be your issue of movement now? They do not have any leader. There is just one residential representative, who issues statements from time to time. The leader one day told an official there’s no need to detain him. Let there be a person, an opposition is necessary.”