Hasina, Zia agree to hold dialogue

Anisur Rahman

Dhaka, Sept 20 (PTI) Bangladesh's two former premiers,
Sheikh Hasina and her arch-rival Khaleda Zia, have agreed to
hold talks to resolve their differences, a step seen as vital
for restoring democracy in the emergency-ruled country.

"Both leaders agreed to sit together for a dialogue.
Neither of them put any condition," senior Supreme Court
lawyer Rafique-ul Huq, who is acting as a liaison between the
two leaders, told reporters Friday night here.

Analysts see the talks between the two top leaders ahead
of the planned general election in December this year as a
vital step in re-establishing democracy as their rivalry
is believed to have exposed the country to the emergency rule
and installation of the interim government last year.

Huq, believed to be assigned by the interim government to
persuade the two top leaders often dubbed as 'battling
Begums', said Zia, the chief of Bangladesh Nationalist Party
(B.N.P.), told him that she was ready for the dialogue while
Hasina, the Awami League leader, also welcomed the move.

He said Hasina "will talk with me on the issue ... on her
return from the United States."

Huq, a former attorney general, is also is the chief
counsel of the two ex-premiers as they were faced with a
number of graft charges.

Both were also detained over corruption charges.

While Hasina was temporarily released three months ago on
a government executive order to be treated abroad for critical
hearing impairment, Zia came out of the prison on bail last
month.

The two most prominent leaders of Bangladesh rarely met
in the past two decades and even refused to talk to each other
despite appeals by civil society and business leaders to
resolve many outstanding national issues while analysts blamed
their attitude for the rise of 'politics of confrontation in
the country'.

"The two top leaders do not talk to one another. Such a
political culture must be changed. They should work for the
nation," Huq said but added that there was no specific agenda
for the proposed discussion.

"As a citizen, I think enough is enough. There has been
enough squabbling. The Awami League and the B.N.P. have to
stop this and work together in the interest of the country."