Quader meets president, conveys stance on 16th amendment verdict

Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader today met President Abdul Hamid at the latter’s official residence in Dhaka.

Quader went to Bangabhaban around 12noon and came out after one and half hour around 1:30pm. He briefed reporters after coming out of the meeting.

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A little before Quader paid his visit, Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha left Bangabhaban after exchanging Janmashtami greetings with the president.

“I did not know the chief justice would be there,” Quader told journalists.

“I conveyed our party’s stance on the Supreme Court’s verdict in the 16th amendment case to the president. I explained the party’s true stance on the verdict,” he added.

Quader said, “I have already talked to the prime minister over the issue and conveyed the outcome to the president as he is the custodian of the state and appoints chief justice.”

Responding to a query whether the government will go for review petition over the verdict, Quader said, “Talk with the chief justice has already been started and it will continue. I don’t want to make any comments in this regard before end of the talk.”

Meanwhile, taking part in a progremme, Quader said his parry is concerned over the 16th amendment verdict but not scared of it.

“Cloud in the sky appears temporarily but the sun is forever. The sun will rise forever erasing the temporary cloud from the political horizon,” he said.

He came up with the remarks while inaugurating a rally at Palashi intersection in Dhaka on the occasion of Janmashtami.

Awami League-led ruling coalition 14-party alliance yesterday voiced their protest over the 16th amendment verdict and said that they would deal with it legally and politically.

Quader has already met Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha over this issue and has said that he would meet him again. The "discussions remained incomplete" - is what he said yesterday.

Political opposition BNP has sounded concern over Quader’s meeting and has accused him of pressurising the chief justice in the motive to bring changes to his verdict.

The Supreme Court’s dismissal of the 16th amendment to the constitution has been the topic of politicians since it had severely criticised the role of the incumbent government.

Ruling Awami League lawmakers are criticising the verdict and the chief justice who delivered it, whereas, opposition BNP is saying that it had exposed the misdeeds of the government.