Interim govt to get necessary time
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and superintendents of police, and reforms to the Election Commission.
“We have received assurance from the chief adviser that neither the Awami League nor its people will be given power.”
The convener of a faction of Gono Odhikar Parishad, Reza Kibria, said, “The interim government will work for as long as it takes to stabilise the situation in the country and create an environment conducive to polls.”
Nurul Haque Nur, who led another faction of the Gono Odhikar Parishad, said they placed a 14-point demand before the chief adviser. “We have urged the swift implementation of reforms and preparation of a roadmap for national elections.”
ON AUGUST 15
AB Party Convener AFM Solaiman Chowdhury, who led a three-member team at the meeting, said observing National Day of Mourning goes against the spirit of the proclamation of independence and the July uprising.
“Actually, we had only one thing on the agenda at today’s meeting -- whether August 15 should be observed as national mourning day,” party’s Joint Member-secretary Asaduzzaman Fuaad told The Daily Star.
“This administration is an extraordinary government that took over following the mass uprising and ouster of a dictatorial regime. Therefore, the mood and feelings of the student and young protesters on the streets should be respected,” Fuaad said he had told the chief adviser.
The party argued that no public holiday is observed for Abraham Lincoln or the founding fathers of the US or Winston Churchill in Britain.
Reza Kibria said, “There is no reason to have a holiday on August 15. We know that the Awami League tried to make August a month of mourning for us, but we liberated the country and regained independence on August 5. Therefore, it is necessary to cancel the public holiday.
“Today’s discussion mainly focused on observing August 15. There is no justification for this day. Dr Yunus will make the final decision on whether this day will be observed.”
Nur said, “We have requested a review of various important decisions made by the government…
“All political parties that participated in today’s meetings, including ours, have said that August is a month of national revolution. We want to observe this month as a month of revolution. It is not a month of mourning. It is a month of happiness and peace.”
The Awami League has been observing the day of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s assassination as National Day of Mourning. In 2001, the BNP-led four-party coalition government cancelled the holiday.
However, the High Court later ruled that the cancellation of the holiday was invalid.
This was the first day of meetings between the chief adviser and different political parties since Yunus-led interim government took office on August 8 following the fall of Sheikh Hasina-led Awami League government on August 5.
Ganatantra Mancha and Islami Andolan also had meetings with the chief adviser yesterday, but this paper could not reach them for comments.