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AL, BNP yet to get talks invite sent 3 days ago

Staff Correspondent
The Awami League (AL) and BNP are yet to receive the electoral reform dialogue letters the chief adviser's office claimed to have dispatched three days ago.
Leaders of the country's two major parties are also still "undecided" over participating in the dialogue with the caretaker government. the outcome of which is vital to holding of the ninth parliamentary elections.
They once again said yesterday that they would take the decision in consultation with the party leaders only after receiving the letter.
"The letter is yet to reach our hands," AL Organising Secretary Saber Hossain Chowdhury told The Daily Star last night.
"We do not know through which medium the letter has been sent to us," he said, adding that the party's working committee would sit in a meeting after receiving the letter to examine its content and take decision regarding it.
Leaders of the two factions of BNP also said they would decide on participating in the dialogue only after getting the letter.
"We are yet to get the letter," said pro-reform leader of BNP Maj (retd) Hafiz Uddin Ahmed.
BNP Joint Secretary General
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Nazrul Islam Khan also said last night that the letter did not reach them as of 8:00pm.
When contacted over telephone Education Adviser Hossain Zillur Rahman declined to make any comment on the parties' not receiving the government letter for the dialogue.
Meanwhile, the dialogue itself seems to be in trouble because of what some politicians termed the "preconditions” set by the government and the leadership crises in the political parties.
The policymakers of both the AL and BNP are in serious dilemma oVer taking part in the dialogue with or without their party chiefs. Unlike other invited parties, they are facing difficulties in working out strategies for the dialogue with the government led by the chief adviser.
Dozens of major political figures, including AL President Sheikh Hasina and BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia, have been put in jails while a few more senior leaders may soon follow them. Many others Eire on the run to avoid arrest. AU these have caused a vacuum in the parties' leadership.
Party insiders said their leaders are busier trying to survive the government’s anti-corruption drives than doing politics-a situation that, they fear, would continue to thwart the dialogue.
The parties have been saying they would not participate in any dialogue with the government if conditions were imposed. They want to sit in the dialogue to discuss openly which, they say, is only possible if the government shifts from its present stance.
The letters sent to six political parties on Tuesday said, "The chief adviser's address to the nation will give directives about the agenda of the dialogue." This also caused concerns among the major political parties.
"How can the chief adviser's address be the agenda of the dialogue when it disappointed most poUtical parties?" said a senior AL leader, who was doubtful about the success of the dialogue if takes place.
It seems that the government will not shift from its position, a few political leaders speculated.
Sources said parties invited to the talks would be busy holding meetings in the next couple of days to decide whether to participate in the dialogue.
Many, however, believe that the dialogue will be successful to bring an end to the ongoingcrisis.
Meanwhile, Jamaat-e-Islami and the pro-Khaleda faction of BNP have demanded release of both Hasina and Khaleda as a precondition for the dialogue. The AL is also pressing for Hasina's release and her presence at the dialogue.
There are also pressures on the AL from its leaders and supporters for not participating in the dialogue
keeping the two top leaders behind bars.
The four-party alliance will hold a meeting in a day or two to decide on attending the talks. Sources said the alliance will place a set of conditions, including release of the AL and BNPchiefs, for the dialogue.
"To make the dialogue a success there is no alternative to releasing Khaleda Zia and Sheikh Hasina," said BNP chairperson's Adviser Brig (retd) Hannan Shah. He said the two leaders could be given parole to participate in the dialogue.
Jamaat Secretary General Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojaheed also does not consider the atmgsphere to be congenial for such a dialogue. "Hasina and Khaleda must be set free and the case filed against Motiur Rahman Nizami has to be withdrawn before the dialogue starts," Mojaheed told The Daily Star.
Jamaat has received the letter for the dialogue.
Nineteen parties have been invited to the dialogue to be held at the chief adviser's office from May 22. The schedules for the parley are yet to be announced.