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PM speech draws opposition flak

Staff Correspondent
Leaders of the mainstream opposition parties yesterday sharply reacted to Prime Minister Khaleda Zia's speech in parliament on liiesday, saying she cites the conspiracy of foreigners in domestic politics only to hide her govern-
ment's failures.
The prime minister's remarks about foreigners' interference and rejection of the opposition demand for reforms in the caretaker government system amounted to arrogance, they said.
Leaders of the main opposition Awami League (AL) and its leftleaning allies said they are determined to force the government through a mass movement to meet their demand about caretaker government.
In her valedictory speech during a thanksgiving motion in the House, Khaleda urged foreigners not to interfere in domestic affairs of Bangladesh and said such external interference will not be tolerated. She also said the opposition parties' demand for reforms in the caretaker system is 'irrational'.
AL General Secretary Abdul Jalil in a statement said, "As people have rejected her government, Khaleda Zia is now smelling the conspiracy of foreigners to cover her failures."
Deputy Leader of the Opposition and AL central leader Abdul Hamid said, "The remarks she (Khaleda) made in parliament are indecent. As the prime minister, she should not have spoken this way."
The PM's threat to foreign countries is unlikely to do any good to the country, Hamid said. "Representatives of foreign countries are here, and if she (PM) received any threat or pressure from any country, she should have protested it in a diplomaticway."
AL lawmaker and former home minister Mohammad Nasim said, "She (PM) has to make it public which country or foreign force is putting pressure on her government or is dictating it in running the country."
Rashed Khan Menon, president of the Workers Party of Bangladesh
said, "Khaleda Zia has hidden some crucial problems of the country, including the existence of extremist groups, as a ruling coalition partner is involved in militancy."
It sounds unusual that Khaleda would not tolerate foreign intervention in domestic affairs as her government closed down a number of state-owned mills and factories under pressure from donor agencies and countries, he said.
On reform in the caretaker system, Menon said Khaleda was made to accept this system in the past and now she will be forced to bring about reforms in the system.
Mujahidul Islam Selim, general secretary of the Communist party of Bangladesh (CRB), blamed the BNP-Jamaat-led ruling coalition for making Bangladesh 'subservient' to the United States and the World Bank.
"She (Khaleda) said rightly that foreign countries are interfering in our domestic affairs but she is responsible for such a situation," Selim said.
Hasanul Haq Inu, president of the Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal, said, "The present government has come to power with the help of foreign forces and it is going by their prescription."
If the prime minter is courageous enough, she should first make public her government's stance on the country's natural resources against the backdrop of international pressure to export those, Inu said.