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Interim govt to get necessary time for polls

BNP, Jamaat, 5 other parties tell Yunus
SAJJAD HOSSAIN and RASHIDUL HASAN
Seven political parties, including the BNP and Jamaat, yesterday said Prof Muhammad Yunus-led interim government can take the time necessary for creating an atmosphere conducive to holding a free and fair election.
Along with the BNP and Jamaat, Amar Bangladesh Party, two factions of Gono Adhikar Parishad, Bangladesh Jatiya Party, and National Democratic Movement told Prof Yunus this at separate meetings in the state guest house Jamuna.
During the meetings, in which advisers Asif Nazrul, Adilur Rahman, Farida Akhter, Nahid Islam, and Asif Mahmud were present, the parties were asked if the National Day of Mourning should be observed and whether August 15 should remain a public holiday.
Sources who were present at the meetings said all the parties opined that August 15 should not be observed as a day of mourning, and the public holiday is not needed.
However, no decision was made in this regard, they said.
Emerging from the meeting, BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, who led an eight-member delegation to the meeting, told journalists, “We have given this interim government the time required to create a proper environment for holding an election.”
He said they did not discuss the election and that the BNP did not mention any specific time frame for holding the next election.
Fakhrul said his party was extending its full support to all the activities of the interim government.
Sources in the BNP said the party urged the chief adviser to have all the cases against its leaders, including those against party chairperson Khaleda Zia and acting chairman Tarique Rahman, withdrawn.
Jamaat Ameer Shafiqur Rahman, who led an 11-member delegation to the meeting, told the media that his party’s discussions with the interim government focused on national issues, not party specifics.
“We are hopeful that the interim government will solve various problems within a reasonable time,” he said.
Andaleeve Rahman Partho, chairman of the Bangladesh Jatiya Party (BJP), said, “The fall of the Awami League [government] occurred through a revolution, and it will take some time for the situation to stabilise.
“For the last 15 years, everything the Awami League government did was illegal. Now, it’s time to repair the state. We don’t want to rush to an election. Whatever good this government does, we will support.”
Chairman Bobby Hajjaj of National Democratic Movement (NDM) said, “We urged the advisers to remove the representatives in local governments and appoint administrators.
“We suggested changing the deputy commissioners
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