For BNP, Quader reluctant on conditional talks

Awami League General Obaidul Quader today said he would not talk to BNP over the upcoming general election if any pre-condition is set in this regard.

“I am not even eager to call BNP under any pre-condition. Moreover, there is no room for talks, no possibility of it either,” Quader, told reporters at his ministry office in secretariat this noon, reports Bangla daily Prothom Alo.

Earlier on Friday, Obaidul Quader while addressing a function in Dhaka said that he would talk to BNP through a phone call if necessary.

Responding to it, BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said that his party is ready to sit with Awami League anytime, anywhere. He said he would call if Quader calls first.

Citing Fakhrul’s statement, Quader said: “He (Fakhrul) says he will call me if I call first. It is certainly a conditional circumstance. This can never be the language of politics.”

Claiming that it is a good thing to maintain relationship with all political parties, Quader said: “Maintaining communication may break the ice in any relationship.”

About the three city corporation elections, Quader said the elections will be held in a free, fair and congenial atmosphere tomorrow.

Responding to a query, the Awami League leader said he is engaged in talking with pro-liberation political parties to expand the size the of Awami League-led 14-party alliance ahead of the upcoming general election.

“But a decision in this regard has yet to be finalised,” Quader said.