& çâÌæÚUæð´ ·¤è ¥ôÚU Îð¹Ùæ ÁæÚUè ÚU¹ð´ ¥ÍæüÌ ¥ÂÙð ÜÿØ ÂÚU ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´Ð ãæÚU Ù ×æÙð´, €UØô´ç·¤ ·¤æ× ·¤ÚUÙð âð ¥æÂ·¤ô ©gðàØ ·¤è Âýæç# ãôÌè ãñ ¥õÚU ÁèßÙ ·¤æ ¹æÜèÂÙ ÎêÚU ãôÌæ ãñÐ ÖÜð ãè ÁèßÙ ×ð´ ç·¤ÌÙè Öè ·¤çÆÙæ§ü €UØô´ Ù ¥æ°, çÁ™ææâæ ¥õÚU ©ˆâæã ÕÙæ° ÚU¹ð´Ð ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´, ÜÿØ ã×ðàææ ¥æÂ·Ô¤ Âæâ ãôÌð ãñ´ çÁ‹ãð´ ÂæÙð ·Ô¤ çÜ° ÂýØæâ ¥æÂ ·¤Öè Öè àæéM¤ ·¤ÚU â·¤Ìð ãñ´Ð

Stalemate Over Caretaker

AL, BNP shift a little, show some hope

Hasan Jahid Tusher
Both the ruling Awami League and the main opposition BNP now appear open to breaking the deadlock over ways to hold the next parliamentary elections.
Sources said the two archrivals have primarily discussed at their respective party forums the issue of installing an interim government. They, however, want
to look further into it before coming up with a formal proposal.
AL is ready to discuss the matter, provided the opposition places a proposal in parliament to that end, said a senior leader of the party.
Until early this month, both the parties stuck to their stance on the caretaker government system. BNP was saying it wouia not participate in any elections except under a caretaker government while AL insisted there was no scope for it after the consti-tutional amendment scrapped the system as per a Supreme Court verdict.
BNP acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said on Thursday if AL agreed on forming a non-party government for holding the next elections, BNP was ready to join parliament session to discuss its formation and composition.
State Minister for Law Quamrul Islam has said, "Ice has started melting. They [BNP] were sticking to an extreme position, demanding elections under a caretaker government. But now they are speaking of an interim government."
It seems BNP has given up its demand for restoration of the caretaker government system, he said at a discussion on Friday at Dhaka Reporters Unity.
On February 15, US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Robert O Blake, who had talks with the chiefs of both AL and BNP, stressed the need for discussion
between the two parties in and outside parliament on the process of holding a free, fair and credible election.
In this context, both AL and BNP insiders said the two parties might now go for discussion between them, initially outside the House. And they would discuss the issue in the House after working out their respective "bottom lines" on it for averting political conflicts over the next parliamentary elections.
"The issue is at a stage of discussion and until now there has not been any decision,” AL Presidium Member Obaidul Quader said on Friday. "There is still time to think on this issue. We want to know their [BNP] bottom line since they are shifting their stance on the issue of caretaker government.”
Quader, also communications minister, said they want to ensure holding the next election in a credible manner with the participation of all political parties and on the basis of a consensus. But the opposition party must have to give up its negative attitude and refrain from saying no to everything.
The minister further said AL has no plan to go for
election alone. "We did not play any unfair game [in polls] in the past and will do the same in the future,” said the ruling party policymaker.
On February 4, BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia said her party would not have any objection if the government installs a non-partisan administration by changing the name -- caretaker government. A number of opposition leaders also spoke similarly in the last fewdays.
On February 6, BNP standing committee member Nazrul Islam Khan said they would accept renaming the caretaker government as interim government but nothing short of the "character of the non-party, neutral caretaker government”.
On February 13, AL discussed the matter at its highest policymaking body and agreed in principle that it would urge BNP to place in parliament it proposal on interim government. The meeting stressed that any discussion on the issue must be held in parliament.
The presidium meeting also decided to start a campaign in support of cancellation of the caretaker government system across the country.