Hasan trashes BNP's claim of PM's 'failure'

BNP's statement about the prime minister "failing" to uphold Bangladesh's interest in Copenhagen was a futile effort to confuse the nation, said State Minister for Environment and Forest Hasan Mahmud yesterday.
He urged BNP not to try to get political leverage out of a national issue like climate change.
The state minister said, "BNP leaders are now trying to defend the wrong statement made earlier by BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia.
"I think both the opposition leader and her followers are making such remarks due to their ignorance about the purpose of the Copenhagen summit."
The state minister said this at a press conference held at the Government Muslim High School in Chittagong yesterday afternoon in reply to the remarks made by BNP leaders at a press conference in the capital on Thursday.
He was a guest at the centenary jubilee celebration programme of the school.
He said Bangladesh's stance and proposals for placement in the summit were prepared at a special meeting of the parliamentary standing committee on environment ministry with committee Chairman Abdul Mobin Talukder in the chair.
Mobin is a BNP lawmaker. Two BNP lawmakers Nilufer Chowdhury and Majharul Alam Prodhan went to Copenhagen with the government delegation, he said.
He said, "What would the BNP leaders say about the role of parliamentary standing committee Chairman Abdul Mobin Talukder as he approved our stance?"
He said Bangladesh successfully voiced its concerns at the recently held Copenhagen Climate Summit under the leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Bangladesh drew the attention of the international community to its vulnerable condition, he added.
He claimed that the clauses regarding initiatives for the most vulnerable and least developed countries were included in the summit deal due to strong intervention and sincere effort of Sheikh Hasina.
The prime minister also played a key role in forming a global fund for the most vulnerable and least developed countries, he said.
Bangladesh, for the first time, took part in such a summit in a unified manner, taking people including experts, NGO representatives, and opposition party lawmakers in the government delegation to Copenhagen.