Latest political news of Bangladesh

Ruling Awami League is not worried about the main opposition BNP's threat of resigning en masse from the parliament, as the vacuum can be filled through by-elections, according to AL leaders.
AL policymakers said the government will complete its tenure as mandated by the people, although resignation by all BNP lawmakers would create a problem for the parliament to function efficiently, and advancement of democracy would also be hampered to some extent. But the magnitude of the problem would be nothing that could not be handled.
No such untoward situation has been created in the country for which the main opposition must resign from the parliament en masse, the AL leaders said.
BNP is presenting Khaleda's recent "eviction" from her prior residence in Dhaka Cantonment as the reason for its lawmakers' possible resignation.
But ruling party leaders are seeing Khaleda's departure from the disputed house as a private matter, which should not have any bearing on national politics and economy.
"There will be no problem if BNP resigns from the parliament, as by-elections can be held to fill the vacant seats," AL Advisory Council Member Suranjit Sengupta said yesterday.
But BNP Standing Committee Member SQ Chowdhury said, "The parliament will turn into a one-party House if by-election is held without BNP's participation, and we have seen the consequence of such one-party parliament in the past.”
Suranjit dismissed SQ Chowdhury's claim, saying there is no question of turning the parliament into a one-party House, since there are many parties in the parliament and in the ruling grand alliance. "More parties might also come forward to nominate candidates for the vacant seats," observed the veteran AL parliamentarian.
Former caretaker government adviser Akbar Ali Khan said if the main opposition resigns from the parliament that will be a setback for democracy, but it will not be easy to destabilise the government. He said no elected government gave up power before completing its tenure in the history of Bangladesh.
"If a major party remains absent from the parliament or resigns from it, the effectiveness of the House can be reduced, but definitely it won't drop to zero," the renowned former bureaucrat told The Daily Star last night.
SQ Chowdhury said, "The parliament will lose its importance if the main opposition resigns from it, and no one-party parliament could complete its tenure in the past."
He said there is no question of BNP joining the parliamentary sessions, after the way the government "ousted" the opposition leader from the disputed cantonment house, and the way it "defiled the sanctity of the national flag" when it "forced Khaleda's national flag carrying vehicle to get out of that premises".
He said even the ruling party lawmakers are not joining the sessions regularly, which is an "obvious sign that the parliament has lost its importance".
AL Joint General Secretary Mahbubul Alam Hanif said, "No matter what BNP does, we are committed to completing the five-year tenure as mandated by the people." If BNP resigns, it will be for saving the two "corrupt" sons of Khaleda Zia, and about the disputed cantonment residence.
Hanif, who is also a special assistant to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, urged the opposition not to resign from the parliament "without any reason".
AL presidium members Kazi Zafarullah and Obaidul Quader see BNP's threat of resignation as a mere threat, not something probable.
Talking to The Daily Star they said AL lawmakers had also signed resignation letters and handed those over to the then leader of the opposition Sheikh Hasina when BNP-Jamaat four-party coalition government was in power.
But AL ultimately did not resign from the parliament back then, and this time BNP will also not do that, observed both ruling party policymakers.
"I hope Khaleda Zia will take her decisions keeping the country's constitution in mind, and whatever we do we will follow the constitution," said Zafarullah.
Obaidul Quader also sees BNP's threat of resigning from the parliament as a strategy to resuscitate its activists' enthusiasm and morale, while keeping the government under constant pressure. "There is no such situation in the country at the moment that demands the opposition's en masse resignation from the parliament."
He said there is no way the government can be toppled through hartals and other destructive activities; neither there is any chance of an interim election. Return to power of undemocratic forces is also not a possibility under the current reality of the country, he added.
SQ Chowdhury said it was AL chief Sheikh Hasina who introduced the culture of collecting resignation letters from party lawmakers, so the AL leaders should not get all that excited or mad about the BNP push for its lawmakers' resignation from the parliament.
Workers' Party leader Bimal Biswas said the country is moving towards a tensed situation. The "extreme-right" politics of BNP-Jamaat coalition finds itself between a rock and hard place, so they want to make the country unstable, and destroy the democratic system to save themselves, he added.
"They might make any number of attempts including taking the country towards an undemocratic path just to save their existence," said the leader of the ruling 14-party coalition, which is scheduled to meet on Sunday to discuss the latest political situation.