Editorial
Reciprocating call for dialogue
A positive signal
THE Prime Minister has invited the opposition to sit for a dialogue. It followed the BNP-led alliance calling off yesterday's hartal which was in response to the call made by the PM who had invoked the good sense of the opposition given the Savar tragedy. We are happy that good sense has prevailed on both sides. And this is what we would like to pin our hopes on for an amicable denouement of the current political standoff centering on the manner and mode of the next general election.
While responding positively to the PM's call, Khaleda Zia had sought a formal offer for talks from her with specific agenda spelt out. The PM has also reciprocated the call by agreeing to sit for a dialogue, with a caveat however. She has ruled out the possibility of restoring the caretaker government system, which has been the main demand of the BNP,
And that is the major sticking point since the BNP-led alliance has squarely rejected any idea of participating in election without an interim caretaker system overseeing that. And it is our view, and we are certain that it is fairly representative of the general feeling in the country, that an election without the opposition's participation would lack validity and acceptability both at home and abroad.
We feel that this is a sliver of opportunity, which had not been there so far, and this must be made use of and that rigid positions of the AL as well as BNP must be shunned for the sake of reaching a common ground. We would entreat the opposition to display the same spirit as they have done now in the future as well and eschew the hartal option to save the country from the economic morass that it finds itself in. It would be nice to see them joining the budget session of the parliament, too.
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