DHAKA, 5 May 2004 — Opposition leader Hasina Wajed said yesterday that she would not allow any vacuum in the 300-member Parliament, nor would she allow any vested group to derive benefit from any parliamentary seats vacated by her party MPs.
Asked whether Awami League MPs would resign or enter Parliament, Hasina said, “Why should we resign? It is the prime minister who must resign. People no longer want her to remain in power.”
Ruling Bangladesh Nationalist Party Secretary-General Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan made it clear this week that the government would fill the 58 seats through by-elections if the Awami League MPs decided to resign en masse. The Awami League has been boycotting Parliament since June 25, 2003.
However, foreign countries, including the United States, have advised her to return to the legislature, saying her demand for an early election is unconstitutional. They also asked the Awami League to allow the four-party alliance government to complete its full five-year term until late 2006.
Hasina avoided replying to a question whether there had been any lapses by the party’s central leaders during the last month’s agitation aiming to force the alliance government to quit by the April 30 deadline set by Awami League. “Why would there be any lack of commitment from her party leaders?” she asked.
She added,: “Our leaders suffered wide-scale torture while participating in the anti-government agitation as the alliance government became nervous and resorted to mass arrest... It is now clear the people do not want this government, and are shocked at seeing them still in power.”
The opposition leader said the movement against the government had not failed although the April 30 deadline had passed. Speaking about the forthcoming municipal elections, she said: “I have doubts if the elections will be free and fair, as the government will let loose police and party cadres against Awami League leaders and workers in their bid to win at any cost.”
Hasina mentioned the recent incidents in a number of towns ahead of the municipal elections, where the BNP was trying to foil the League’s movement ahead of the elections. Apparently, BNP’s first Joint Secretary General Tarique Rahman had a meeting with some notorious criminals in April, and recently, a minibus full of arms was caught in Feni, but released following a phone call from a family member of the prime minister.
“They are trying to tighten their grip on power by hook or crook.” she said, “The alliance government no longer trusts the president. We are waiting to see a farce develop.”
In a separate development, Bangladesh yesterday agreed to repatriate the remaining Rohingya Muslim refugees to Myanmar soon. The agreement came when visiting Minister for Home Affairs of Myanmar Col. Tin Hlaing met State Minister for Home Affairs Lutfozzaman Babar here.
