Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Tuesday said that her government would take into consideration any acceptable proposal of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party if it was placed in the Parliament, even after the Constitution Amendment Bill has been passed.
Urging the opposition leader to attend the Parliament to place her demands, she said that unelected people would not be given any more chance to grab state power and everything would be done by the elected representatives of the people.
'We will consider any acceptable and logical proposal later, if it is placed in the Parliament, even after
the Bill has been passed,' said the PM, adding that the Constitution Amendment Bill was approved by the Cabinet and placed in the Parliament, and it was now being scrutinised by the standing committee.
The prime minister made the remarks in her speech on the proposed budget for FY2011-2012 in the Parliament.
Pointing out the oppression of the people of all strata, including the politicians, by the army-backed interim government, Hasina urged the BNP's chairperson to refrain from destroying democracy at the insistence of others.
'We want democracy. We will ensure that the unelected people will not be allowed to take over state power,' she added.
Accusing the BNP of not responding to the government's calls to participate in the constitution amendment process in the last 11 months, she said that everybody should obey the Parliament and the Supreme Court.
She said that the BNP chairperson on the one hand claimed that the elections held under the caretaker government in 2008 were unfair, and on the other was again demanding reinstatement of the caretaker government system.
'If you (Khaleda) want the caretaker government system, you have to admit that the elections held in 2008 were free, fair and credible,' she said.
She also said that the 15th Amendment Bill had been drafted after detailed discussions in eleven months with people of all strata, but the BNP made six amendments and the Jatiya Party four amendments to the Constitution without any consensus.
The prime minister also said that there were mistakes in the caretaker government provision, which was proved beyond doubt by the court.
'The caretaker system was not implemented in the line with our demands, so it failed to perform properly,' she claimed.
She said that the last caretaker government wanted to stay in power for 10 more years but had to hold elections after two years due to pressure from people at home and abroad.
'They (past caretaker administration) even wanted to give me the status of prime minister on condition that I would not demand elections,' said Hasina, adding that she had rejected the proposal for the sake of democracy.
She said that the government had taken a strong position against corruption, and the people who were proved to have taken bribes by the international court should be tried in country's court also.
Hasina said that the sons of the former prime minister, her finance minister and energy minister were proved guilty of taking bribes by the courts in the USA and Canada.
She also said that the government is trying hard to arrest the abnormal price spiral of essentials.
'Earlier, I told the House that the food crisis would be resolved by stopping all the development activities, if necessary. And we have ensured food for the people accordingly,' she claimed.
She also said that the government had taken measures to restore normalcy in the country's capital market, and that most of the brokerage houses belonged to the supporters of the BNP.
She also said that the government was taking a decision to ensure one year of compulsory internship to ensure mandatory stay of the physicians in rural areas.
'If anyone doesn't stay in the rural areas, he will not get a certificate,' she said.
Source : New Age
