Amid speculations of several political quarters over the next general election, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has said that the polls will be held in time and that it will be free and fair.
“There’s no doubt the election will be free and fair,” she said on Sunday while addressing the media at her official residence Ganobhaban.
The press conference was meant to brief the media about the outcomes of her recent visit to Nepal to attend the 4th BIMSTEC summit.
“We’re working for people. I have been saying that if the people vote for us, we’ll be in power again, otherwise not,” Hasina said.
She said the election must be held (in time) and no one can resist it. “No one can foil the election if the people are with us.”
On the BNP’s call for release of jailed party chief Khaleda Zia, Hasina said that her administration has nothing to with it.
“If they want Khaleda’s immediate release, it has to be through the court or go for presidential clemency,” said the Awami League president.
“The BNP boasts so many eminent lawyers ... and they failed to prove her innocent? Why blame us? Their leader is jailed and where’s the movement for it? Let them wage a movement.”
‘NO TALKS WITH THE BNP’
Speaking at Sunday’s press briefing, Hasina once again ruled out possibilities of any kind of talks with the BNP or persuading the party to take part in the polls.
The BNP says it will not contest in the general election with Chairperson Khaleda in jail as well as wants the Hasina-administration to step down before the polls.
“It’s their call; we have nothing to do with it. If the BNP thinks they’ll not contest in the polls, then fine,” said the Awami League chief. “We can neither stop them from contesting nor invite them.”
Responding to a query on the BNP’s call for talks, Hasina said that it was “out of the question”.
The prime minister referred to the 2015 incident when Khaleda refused to meet her after the BNP’s chief’s son died.
“On that day, I decided not to sit with them at all. There’s no question of holding discussions with them … no matter who says what … It doesn’t matter whether I am in power or not. I have a sense of self-esteem.”
‘NO HASTY MOVE ON EVM’
Amid widespread discussion over introducing electronic voting machines (EVMs) and opposition from political parties, including the BNP, Hasina said she was in favour of limited use of it in the national election.
“It’s true technology has its advantages, but it also has disadvantages. EVM is a matter of practice. It has to go through trials,” said Hasina.
She said EVMs can be used in city-level as an experimental basis. “If there any problem arises then it can be stopped,” she added.
‘WHAT MYANMAR HAS DONE IS HEINOUS’
Describing the Myanmar military’s use of false pictures as propaganda against Rohingyas as heinous Hasina said that the country was ruining its own reputation in the global arena.
The Myanmar military had distributed a book on the ‘True News’ of the Rohingya crisis in July. A media investigation of the book found that three photographs in it had been falsely represented as being from the Rohingya crisis.
Two of the photos were originally taken in Bangladesh and Tanzania. A third was falsely labelled as Rohingyas entering Myanmar from Bangladesh, when in reality it showed migrants leaving the country.
Over 700,000 Rohingyas fled to Bangladesh from across the border in Myanmar in the wake of a military crackdown in Rakhine last August. Nearly 400,000 other Rohingyas had also fled to Bangladesh at various times in the past few decades.
In December, Bangladesh and Myanmar signed an agreement on the repatriation of the Rohingyas to Myanmar. But the process has yet to begin. Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi has said that Bangladesh was responsible for the delay.
Suu Kyi skipped this year’s summit of the BIMSTEC regional group, which consists of seven nations with connections to the Bay of Bengal. Myanmar President Win Myint attended the summit instead.
Asked whether BIMSTEC discussed the Rohingya crisis, Hasina said bilateral issues usually are not discussed at the event.
The prime minister said she had a brief talk with the Myanmar president.
“He said they are ready to take them back according to the agreement. We discussed that much.”