The Prime Minister will hold the second phase of small-group talks with Dr Kamal Hossain-led Jatiya Oikyafront on Wednesday morning over the next general election.
The dialogue will be held at Ganobhaban at 11:00 am, said Awami League general secretary Obaidul Quader.
Talking to reporters after a meeting of Awami League-led 14-party alliance, he said “Dr Kamal Hossain sent a letter to the Prime Minister seeking a dialogue on a small scale involving constitution experts. We handed over the letter to the Prime Minister.”
In response to the letter, he said the Prime Minister has fixed Wednesday for the talks.
Quader said the 14-party will face any situation and the enemies of progressiveness in the interest of democracy unitedly.
He said an evil force is trying to foil the election and such bid will be resisted with united efforts.
About the discussion on seat sharing among the 14-party partners, Quader said the Prime Minister told the 14-party leaders that the alliance will contest the election for winning it. “There’s no way to consider the opponents as weak.”
He said the Prime Minister also said the prospective candidates will be given nomination in every constituency from the 14-party alliance.
Talking to reporters, 14-party spokesman Mohammad Nasim said their alliance partners will join the election under the leadership of Sheikh Hasina. “The 14-party leaders expressed their unwavering support to Sheikh Hasina’s leadership.”
He said the 14-party leaders also gave Sheikh Hasina all the authority to take decision on seat sharing.
Nasim also said the election must be held under Sheikh Hasina as per the current Constitution. “There’s no scope to budge even an inch from the Constitution.”
Earlier in the morning, Kamal Hossain, on behalf of the Oikyafront, sent another letter to Awami League President and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina seeking the second phase of small-group talks with her over the next general election.
Three Gono Forum leaders -- Jaglul Haider Afrik, AHM Shafiq Ullah and Mostak Ahmed -- carried the letter to Awami League President’s Dhanmondi office at around 12 noon.
In the letter, Dr Kamal Hossain said, “There was a discussion on Jatiya Oikyafront’s seven-point demand during the talks at Ganobhaban on November 1 last. We sincerely thank you for taking the initiative for the talks. Though we talked over a long time, our discussion remained incomplete.”
The letter further reads: “On that day, you said the discussion would continue. Based on that, we, on behalf of Jatiya Oikyafront, are interested to sit in talks again on emergency basis to complete the incomplete discussion. In this case, a limited-scale discussion involving experts from both sides is necessary for analysing the constitutional and legal aspects of the (seven) points.”
In the letter, Dr Kamal Hossain also appraised the Prime Minister of Oikyafront’s letter sent to the Election Commission on Saturday urging it not to announce the election schedule as long as the dialogue is over.
On Saturday night, a meeting of the alliance’s steering committee at Dr Kamal Hossain’s Motijheel chamber decided to send the letter to the Prime Minister.
Earlier, Dr Kamal Hossain sent a letter to the Election Commission urging it not to announce the schedule for the next election until the ongoing dialogue ends.
On November 1, a 23-member delegation of 14-party, led by Sheikh Hasina, sat in talks at Ganobhaban with Dr Kamal Hossain-led 20-member Oikyafront team.
After the meeting, Oikyafront leaders said they placed their seven-point demand before Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina but did not find any specific solution except some good words about rallies and meetings.
Sheikh Hasina invited the Oikyafront leaders to join the dialogue on October 29 following a letter sent to her by Dr Kamal Hossain on behalf of the alliance, seeking talks on election issues.
