Awami League General Secretary and Minister of Road Transport and Bridges Obaidul Quader on Wednesday (15 November) rejected the possibility of engaging in dialogue with opposition parties to resolve the ongoing political deadlock.
He made the remark following a meeting with US Ambassador Peter Haas who visited Obaidul Quader at the Secretariat this morning to hand over an official letter – sent by US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Donald Lu – calling for “dialogue without preconditions” among three major parties – the Awami League, the BNP and the Jatiya Party.
The minister expressed his intent to discuss the letter with the party president Sheikh Hasina and other party members, preferably today.
After the half-an-hour meeting, Quader clarified his stance by saying, “There is no time to think about dialogue anymore. That ship has sailed.”
When asked if the possibility of political dialogue is being entirely ruled out, he said, “No democratic party practising democracy can deny the need for dialogue. However, with today’s announcement of the election date, the focus will shift.”
“Where is the time for holding dialogues?” he posed a counter-question.
Earlier this week, Jatiya Party Secretary General Mujibul Haque Chunnu and BNP Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi confirmed that they had received the letter delivered by US Ambassador to Bangladesh Peter Haas.
The United States, known for actively monitoring Bangladesh’s political landscape, has been consistently advocating for free, fair, and peaceful parliamentary elections in the country.
