Local government minister and Awami League general secretary Syed Ashraful Islam on Wednesday said that the government was still open to dialogue with opposition to resolve the current debate on amendments to the constitution.
'There is no solution without dialogue . . . when the talks stop, war begins,' he told a luncheon meeting joined by editors and heads of news of mainstream print and electronic media Islam added: 'The constitution is a compromise document and its amendment is continuous process.'
Information minister Abul Kalam Azad hosted the luncheon at the state guest Padma when the ruling party general secretary also responded to questions by the senior journalists and media managers.
Islam, however, said no constitution could satisfy everybody but justified the scrapping of the caretaker government provision for election oversight saying the country did not have happy experiences with the system.
'The caretaker government system could not meet the expectation for which it was introduced,' he said.
The minister said apart from the opposition, the government also expected valuable suggestions of media with regard to overall social and political issues.
'We believe in freedom of press (and) we also welcome media criticism as such criticisms alert the government to move on the right way,' he said.
Earlier, information minister Abul Kalam Azad welcomed the editors and head of news of print and electronic media and invited them to a free and frank discussion.
Information secretary Hedayetullah Al Mamun and prime minister's press secretary Abul Kalam Azad were also present on the occasion.
Editors and heads of news who joined the discussion included Anwar Hossain Manzu of the Daily Ittefaq, Golam Sarwar of Samokal, Motiur Rahman of Prothom Alo, Mahfuz Anam of Daily Star, Motiur Rahman Chowdhury of Manabzamin, Shyamal Datta of Bhorer Kagoz and Shahjahan Sarder of Bangladesh Pratidin.
Source : New Age
