The prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, on Wednesday said that only elected people's representatives would decide what should be done to resolve the dispute over the caretaker government system.
'Some people who have no chance to come to power through contesting polls are looking for loopholes of the democratically elected government in a bid to capture power. So we, the elected representatives, have to fix the modalities of what could be done on the caretaker issue,' she said.
Sheikh Hasina, also the president of Bangladesh Awami League was inaugurating a three-month 'Tree Plantation Campaign-2011' launched by Bangladesh Krishak League at her Ganobhaban official residence in Dhaka.
She said her government wants continuity of the democratic process as it does not want to be humiliated further by the non-elected forces.
The prime minister said the decision of holding at least three elections under the non-party caretaker government was taken in the light of the charter of the three political alliances after the political changeover in 1990.
But, the BNP government after coming to power in 1991 'betrayed' with the decision although it was compelled to accept the demand for the caretaker government following a vigorous movement launched by Bangladesh Awami League along with the people, she added.
She said according to the charter of the three political alliances, three parliamentary elections had already been held under the non-party caretaker governments. But, she said, her party had bitter experiences of the past three caretaker governments.
Referring to the Supreme Court verdict that declared the existing caretaker system illegal, she posed a question to the Leader of the Opposition, Khaleda Zia, saying, 'How could we make it legal when the apex court of the country declared it illegal?'
The prime minister blamed the BNP-Jamaat alliance for the 1/11 political changeover in the country saying that it was BNP that paved the way for the caretaker government to stay in power for more than two years due to its unbridled corruption during its tenure after 2001.
Laying emphasis on increasing of forest land in the country to face climate change challenges, the Awami League president asked the Krishak League leaders and activists to encourage the people to plant at least three saplings each.
She also urged the countrymen to plant saplings of fruit bearing and timber trees besides canals, open spaces, on educational institution and hospital campuses to protect the environment maintaining ecological balance and meet vitamin requirements of people.
On food security, she said her government has been working relentlessly to make Bangladesh self-sufficient in food by 2013 as per its Vision-2021. She also stressed the need for increasing research to produce oil seeds, pulses and other food grains to meet the domestic demand.
Sheikh Hasina asked the upazila chairmen to submit master plans of their respective areas identifying the places where projects for housing and mills and factories could be taken.
Later, she planted three saplings on the Ganobhaban premises.
Food and disaster management minister Dr Abdur Razzak, state minister for forest and environment Dr Hasan Mahmud and Krishak League general secretary Motahar Hossain Molla also spoke on the occasion with Krishak League president Dr Mirza Abdul Jalil in the chair.
Earlier, the Krishak League leaders presented an orchid sapling to the prime minister.
source:New Age
