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Hasina Phones Khaleda

Relief? Not so much

Two leaders talk for 37 minutes; fail to set date, agree on contents of dialogue

Staff Correspondent
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina finally phoned her archrival Khaleda Zia yesterday, and invited the BNP chairperson to the Gono Bhaban tomorrow to talk about the next parliamentary election.
But uncertainty remains, as they couldn't agree on the date and the contents of their parley.
In reply to the prime minister's invite, Khaleda said she could hold talks only after the opposition's 60-hour shutdown ends on October 29 evening.
At that, Hasina urged the BNP chiefto call off the hartal.
Khaleda, the leader of the opposition, said it was not
possible to withdraw the hartal now.
During the 37-minute conversation, the prime minister told Khaleda that they could discuss the all-party polls-time government she (Hasina) proposed in her address to the nation on October 18.
"You know I have been holding talks with different political parties. I invite you to the Gono Bhaban to discuss the upcoming election and have dinner with me ... Give me a list of people who will accompany you. You may bring along as many people as you want," Hasina told Khaleda over the phone. Khaleda said the nation had rejected Hasina's formula.
■ If you first agree in principle on holding the next general election under a non-partisan polistime government, then we will call off all our agitation including the 60-hour hartal. And we will sit to discuss how to form the polls-time government," Khaleda's Press Secretary Maruf Kamal Khan quoted the BNP chief as saying to Hasina. Maruf was speaking at a press conference at Khaleda's Gulshan office after the phone conversation between the two leaders.
Referring to Hasina's call for withdrawing the shutdown, Khaleda said she alone could not decide on calling off the hartal, as it had been decided earlier by all components of the BNP-led combine.
"Many alliance leaders are on the run to avoid arrest and police harassment. It would be not possible for me to gather them in one place in a short time," Maruf quoted the BNP chief as saying.
"If you had called me before we announced the hartal yesterday [Friday], I could have considered the matter. But now it's too late," said Khaleda.
She also told Hasina, "There might be confrontation and controversy if an all-party polls-time government is formed to oversee the next national election."
Maruf said the BNP chief told the prime minister that they could hold discussions on an election-time government, making necessary changes to their proposals.
In response, Hasina said she would inform the BNP chairperson about the matter after consulting with her party's senior leaders.
Following the phone conversation between the two leaders, Awami League General Secretary Syed Ashraful Islam told reporters at Gono Bhaban that yesterday was a milestone in Bangladesh's political history.
"She |the PM| has invited the opposition leader to dinner on October 28. The door is open for discussion on any issue there. The prime minister has said she is ready to talk on any matter, ” said Syed Ashraf.
He said the BNP chairperson had not rejected Hasina's invitation.
The nation waits for a dialogue to take place between the two leaders for a solution to the ongoing political crisis, said the AL leader. "We hope the political crisis will be resolved through the October 28 dinner."
Khaleda's condition for talks may remind people about Hasina's stance during the 1995 political crisis over the election-time government A group of five eminent citizens had initiated a move to engage the then ruling BNP and the opposition AL in talks to resolve the crisis.
Following their persuasion, the then premier Khaleda wrote to Hasina, urging her to sit to find a solution to the crisis over the forthcoming election.
Khaleda also offered that talks could be held at the prime minister's office or at the parliament chamber of the leader of the House.
In response, Hasina laid down a condition that Khaleda first accepted the concept of a non-party caretaker government system to create a congenial atmosphere for dialogue.
"We can meet anywhere any time once the atmosphere for a dialogue is created," Hasina wrote to Khaleda.
But talks between the two top leaders were not held, as they both stuck to their positions.
After nearly 18 years, Hasina made the first move to hold dialogue with her archrival to end the political deadlock. The premier called Khaleda five days after she told a cabinet meeting that she would phone her counterpart.
It gave hope that the two leaders would hold talks to resolve theongoingpolitical crisis over polls- time government.
Earlier in August, UN Chief Ban Ki-moon called Hasina and Khaleda and urged them to hold talks to find a peaceful resolution to the political deadlock.
A number of foreign diplomats in Dhaka have made hectic efforts to see a dialogue take place between the ruling and opposition parties.
The prime minister finally called the opposition leader amid an escalation in political violence, as both the ruling and opposition activists took to the streets on Friday.
The opposition alliance threatened to go for tougher programmes in the coming days, calling a 60-hour shutdown from today to force the government to install a non-partisan polls-time government.
Praising the premier's move, civil society members have said it is a positive step to break the political impasse. They also criticised the BNP for not withdrawing the hartal.
TIMELY POLLS MUST: ASHRAF - PAGE 5