Dhaka:
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said that the government alliance has entered into dialogue considering the voting rights of the people of the country, saying, "We want a fair election with the participation of all."
He said, "We are holding the dialogue with that in mind so that the people of the country can vote peacefully and choose the government they want."
Sheikh Hasina made this statement while addressing the president at a memorial meeting organized by the Awami League on Jail Murder Day at the Krishibid Institution Auditorium in Khamarbari, the capital, on Saturday (November 3) afternoon.
The Prime Minister said, "Despite enduring so much humiliation and so much, we only think about the people of the country, that the people of the country should live in peace, that the people of the country should be able to cast their votes in peace. We have sat in dialogue with that thought in mind. We have discussed."
"They were the ones who spoke most of the time. I didn't say a word. The coalition members spoke for about two hours. Then we spoke on our behalf."
He said, "I have only said what I have to say for the final conclusion - some we can do, some by the Election Commission, some by the President. ... We have accepted many of the demands."
Awami League President Sheikh Hasina said, 'With the elections ahead, the Oikya Front sent a letter saying they wanted to meet us - I immediately welcomed them. Despite being very busy - you have seen that we came to Mymensingh for a public meeting - we had discussions.'
"Meetings have already been held with the Oikyafront and the Juktafront. They wanted to talk, we wanted to have a dialogue. Discussions took place in a pleasant atmosphere."
He said, "We will fulfill all the demands they have made, the demands we have said are possible for us to fulfill."
Criticizing the National Unity Front's decision to continue the movement, Sheikh Hasina said, "When the discussions were going on, I saw that they were giving a program for the movement. On the one hand, they will discuss and on the other hand, they are giving a program for the movement. What kind of dialogue, what kind of talk is this, it is incomprehensible to us."
Sheikh Hasina, who served as Prime Minister for 15 years, including 5 years in 1996 and the last two consecutive terms, said, "We want the democratic trend that is going on today to continue. The country develops through democratic continuity."
There is no scope for complaints against the Election Commission.
Highlighting the current process of forming the Election Commission, Sheikh Hasina said, "Our leaders and workers should also know that the Election Commission has been formed. But a search committee was formed there. The President formed the search committee. BNP also gave a list of names to that search committee. We also gave a list. Names from every party have been included in the search committee."
"The search committee consists of one person from our party, one from BNP, and one from other parties. They form the election commission. The president has formed the election commission. So I don't think there is any room for complaint about this election commission."
The Prime Minister said, "This Election Commission has conducted every election with transparency. I have accepted the results that it has given. But if BNP were in our place, would they have accepted losing the city corporation or other elections? They would not have accepted. They would have rigged the votes or caused an incident."
Sheikh Hasina said, 'In the last 5 years since the Awami League government came to power, we have held about 6,000 elections. There have been local government elections, municipal elections. There have been city corporation elections, and about 15 by-elections. No one has been able to say anything about even one of the 6,000 elections that have been held.'
"We did not interfere in any way there. Because the people own the votes, the people will vote. The Election Commission exists independently."
The judiciary is completely independent, we have not arrested anyone politically.
The Prime Minister said, "They said they want the release of political prisoners. I said give me the list. We have not made any political prisoners. We have not arrested anyone for political reasons."
He said, "If we had done that, we could have arrested Khaleda Zia when she burned people to death in 2015, but we didn't do that either. So we haven't arrested anyone for political reasons."
Referring to the conviction of Khaleda and Tareq in cases during the former caretaker government, Sheikh Hasina said, "These cases against Khaleda Zia and Tareq Zia were filed by their own people."
"And the judiciary is completely independent. Khaleda Zia is now serving a sentence based on the verdict given by the independent judiciary. Tareq Zia is serving a sentence. It has been proven internationally that they are corrupt, what can we do about it," said the Awami League leader.
Awami League only knows how to give to the people.
The Prime Minister said, "Today we have become a developing country. Today Bangladesh is moving forward. Today, Awami League is a political party that is taking Bangladesh forward on the ladder of development. The party that only knows how to give to the people of Bangladesh."
"All this has been possible because the Awami League is in power. When the Awami League is in power, this country progresses. Our goal is that even the people of the villages should be freed from poverty. Every village should be developed into a city," he added.
Top Awami League leaders spoke at the meeting.
