Not seeing any possibility of dialogue with BNP: Quader

Ruling Awami League general secretary Obaidul Quader on Monday said none is being called to join dialogue over the next parliamentary elections, reports news agency BSS.

“We do everything in public. There will be no backdoor discussion. If there is any dialogue, it will be held in public. But I’m not seeing such possibility right now. We are not calling anyone to join talks,” he told newspersons while exchanging views with them at his Secretariat office here.

Emerging any crisis ahead of the national elections is not new in Bangladesh, he said, adding “I am an optimistic person. I think this crisis will be resolved too”.

Quader, also the road transport and bridges minister, said that the incumbent government has not fallen in such a crisis that it has to compromise with anyone by amending the country’s constitution.

“There will be no compromise (with any party) over the constitution. Polls will be held in Bangladesh like other democratic countries of the world,” he said.

The AL general secretary said no such thing has happened in Bangladesh that the country’s constitution needs to be changed. There is no scope to support any alternative proposal placed in favour of any party, he added.

Hinting that solution must be found in line of the constitution, he said holding of elections is the only jurisdiction of the election commission (EC), while it conducts polls following the constitution.

Responding to a recent statement of opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, Quader said the Panchagarh incident is being examined to identify those who are involved in it and those who have been instigating the incident.

BNP now cannot run on normal path as its movement has fallen flat and that is why it will be examined whether BNP is following the path of anarchy, he added.

A fire incident was brought out in Rohingya camp and an accident took place in an oxygen plant at Sitakunda, the road transport minister said, adding that these incidents occurred simultaneously and the ruling Awami League was blamed for all those.

About the ongoing global crisis, he said the world is going through this economic crisis and addressing the crisis is a matter of challenge.

It seems that the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war will not come to an end soon and the prices of commodities have gone up across the world due to this war, Quader added.

He also said the government is concerned over the situation but the country’s people are beside the government in this regard. So, he claimed, the people are yet to support the BNP’s movement.