Editorial
Too Hurried a Rejection
No sooner had the Prime Minister renewed her offer for talks than Khaleda Zia rejected it. as if the two leaders are in a competition of showing who can be tougher than the other, regardless of the cost to the country. On Saturday, the Prime Minister lambasted the opposition for the most part of her speech during the Businessmen's Conference. She blamed them for most of the violence in our politics. But at the end of her tirade she reiterated her offer for talks, including on the very sensitive issue of resignation of her government to hold early elections. How the PM ended her speech is far more important than how she began though we would have clearly preferred for the talks to take off if she had avoided her aggressive stance altogether. It is her ending that we intend to underscore. Yes, it would have been far better if the ruling party had created a better environment for talks. Yes, PM should have written about her intentions to the opposition instead of articulating them in public forums. But what lies at the core is the intention and NOT how they are expressed. And we think that the PM's offer merited a positive response. Why? Because the alternative will cost the country dear. The opposition should have weighed seriously the cost to the economy, to public order and civic peace of a situation of continued confrontation before rejecting the offer for talks. Surely the opposition cannot want a situation in which armed goons - of both sides - will call the shots.
The call for talks should have been positively responded to because most of the stumbling blocks have apparently been removed. First, the PM does not seem averse to the idea of an early election, a core demand of the opposition. Second, ill health has forced the Chief Election Commissioner to relinquish his responsibility and he is all but gone. This meets another key demand of the opposition. What remains could easily have formed the subject of the talks themselves. A little more than a year is left for the elections. Opposition forcing it a few months earlier by constant agitation with consequent devastating effect on the economy does not seem really worth it. That is why we had strongly urged the opposition to respond positively to the dialogue offer. The way to go about it would have been to start with the Speaker. We have expressed our feelings about the Speaker and yet we suggested that as members of the parliament nothing could be more natural than to talk to him. Tell him what needs to be done to get the direct talks between the leaders going.
Khaleda Zia's rejection of the offer for any talks throws our politics into a very uncertain future. We foresee nothing short of violent clashes and destructive confrontation. We cannot support Opposition's decision not to sit with the ruling party under any circumstances. We are afraid that this kind of politics will greatly damage our economy and the prospect of any growth. We are greatly saddened by Khaleda Zia's outright rejection of any dialogue.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel.
Comments