Country will fall into deeper crisis if talks on reforms linger: Tarique Rahman
Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) acting chairman Tarique Rahman said if talks on reforms linger, autocrats will get opportunities and ride on the shoulders of the people,
He further said the country will fall into a deeper crisis as long as talks on reforms linger.
Tarique Rahman made the remarks while virtually addressing a discussion organised by BNP’s Dhaka south city unit in Shyampur on Sunday.
He said an election is necessary before everything else to implement the reform proposals. Those who would be given responsibilities by people, can start the reform initiatives because they will have the people’s mandate, as well as committed to people and once they get the chance they will implement this reform.
If the people of the country give BNP the opportunity to run the state they will try to fulfil the commitment on reform that they have made to the people, Tarique Rahman added.
The BNP acting chief said, “I urged all the learned people who are talking about reform, please, do not dwell on the reform talks too much because the country will fall into a deeper crisis as much as these talks will linger, and conspirators will get opportunity. We can save the country and the people as soon as reform is implemented.”
Saying that some people question whether elections will solve anything, Tarique Rahman added, “Not all of the problems will be solved immediately. Rather, the problem will start to be solved once parties or individuals will get the opportunity to run the state through people’s mandate.”
If the government is formed through people’s vote, they must be accountable to people, he stated, saying that because those who will be in power will have to go to the people again after five years. So, those who will come to power will implement the commitments they have made to people. Or else a situation like 5 August will take place when someone promises people to avail rice at Tk 10 a kg but give them it for Tk 70 a kg, he added.
Tarique Rahman said the reform proposals of the interim government and the 31 proposals of BNP might not be 100 per cent similar but they match by 80 per cent.
Prices of essentials are very high and price hikes must be checked; employment must be generated. Water must be available for irrigation; education must be more accessible; focus must be given on health sector; prices of drugs must be reduced; healthcare services must be improved; traffic must be reduced, and such many problems will have to fix gradually, the BNP chief said.