Despite calling for political dialogues to shun the current political crisis, BNP-Jamaat led alliance and militant groups are repeatedly holding chaotic political programmes resorting to violence and disrupting normal life of the common people.
The Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Kazi Habibul Awal, former President Abdul Hamid and even some foreign delegates, have continuously insisting on holding dialogue to resolve all the issues but BNP and Jamaat and their political allies refuse to comply.
They are continuously demanding ouster of the government led by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at any cost and also want to let the unconstitutional third party to take over the power of the state through an undemocratic way.
BNP and Jamaat, with support from different fundamentalist and militant groups and other vested quarters, who are hatching conspiracies staying at home and abroad, have been trying to forge a movement in view of ousting the present government. They are also demanding a caretaker government.
In the name of political programmes and with their demands, they have continuously been trying to create anarchy and chaos putting blockades on the roads and highways and elsewhere in the country.
As part of their programmes, they have been resorting to violence, like setting fire to vehicles, damaging public properties.
In such a crisis, CEC Kazi Habibul Awal on Tuesday suggested sitting for dialogues between political parties to resolve the differences and create environment for holding next general elections peacefully.
He made the remark after a meeting with US Ambassador Peter Haas at the Election Commission office on Tuesday.
“We have told them (US envoy) and they believe that political parties need dialogues. Without dialogues political crisis would not be resolved on the streets,” the CEC told journalists after the meeting.
He said, “The commission thought that political parties should meet and take tea together. Then they would try to resolve crisis through discussions.”
Habibul Awal said that a favorable environment is needed for the elections, adding, “The crisis is political. It has nothing to do with our work. If these problems are resolved politically, it will be very comfortable for us to hold elections.”
“The commission expects that many issues discussed in the political arena need to be resolved at all costs. We want stability to return. The next election will be held in a stable environment,” he added.
Like the CEC, the six-member delegation from European Union during its recent visit to Dhaka in July had also suggested meeting for dialogues.
But, the call of the CEC and the EU delegation are not being responded by the BNP as the party earlier denied such proposals and calls several times.
It should be mentioned that the CEC had invited BNP’s senior secretary general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi to have tea with the EC officials on last Sunday. But the BNP leader rejected the invitation outright.
In the recent years, the BNP first denied the call of immediate past President of Bangladesh Abdul Hamid, who had invited all the registered political parties for dialogues in order to reconstitute an independent, neutral and credible Election Commission in the month of December in 2021.
The president had invited a total of 32 registered political parties for the dialogue that from December 20 in 2021. But, excepting for BNP and its like-minded few other parties, almost all the political parties responded to the invitation of the former president.
Immediate after taking over the charge of EC, the new Election Commission officials earlier also had taken another initiative of dialogues in the Month of February.
The EC officials had held separate dialogues with political parties, prominent academics, intellectuals of the country, journalists, civil society, election observers and media for three months from February to April.
But, BNP and its allies did not respond to the initiative of the EC officials.
Not only that the EC authorities had taken another initiative of discussions over the use of the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) in the next general elections.
The EC had invited 39 political parties for the dialogue. But the BNP and its allied forces did not respond to the EC call as usually.
