By IANS,
Dhaka : The caretaker Bangladeshi government is working hard to bring former prime ministers Sheikh Hasina and Khaleda Zia together for talks ahead of the parliamentary polls planned for the third week of December.
The government of Chief Advisor Fakhruddin Ahmed is trying to get the two leaders to meet even as the Asian Development Bank (ADB), in its latest report, expressed hope that “a smooth transition between governments will be seen” despite the uncertainty in the lead-up to the election and its outcome, The Daily Star reported Thursday.
Hasina, the head of the Awami League (AL), has shown a positive attitude towards the proposed meeting with her political rival and Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) chief Zia, Rafique-ul-Huq, the lawyer who defends both the former premiers in the court, told a private TV channel Wednesday night.
Haq said he had spoken to Hasina over the phone. She said she would make a final decision in this regard after consulting her party leaders upon her return to the country.
Hasina is now in the US for medical treatment, on parole after a year’s detention for a slew of corruption cases filed by the caretaker government. Her aide and acting AL president Zillur Rahman told reporters that she might return on Oct 7 or 8.
Zia, also released on bail after a year in detention on corruption charges, is preparing to talk to the government over the weekend with a precondition that all former ministers and lawmakers of her party, including those convicted, be released without preconditions.
“I hope the government will take necessary steps to create a congenial political atmosphere by releasing all detained political leaders as a mark of respect to the people’s demand,” Zia said in a statement.
She also demanded the release of a former deputy minister of her party, Abdus Salam Pintu, who has links with Islamist militant groups, according to Bangladeshi intelligence agencies.
Pintu is an accused in a grenade attack on an AL rally on Aug 21, 2004, which had killed 24 political activists and injured a hundred.