Hafiz slates govt for 'failure'

The country has gone backwards 10 years due to the two-year rule of the present caretaker government, said dissident BNP leader Maj (retd) Hafizuddin Ahmed yesterday asking the government to pay more attention in creating the necessary atmosphere for polls.
Criticising the caretaker government, he said, "It could not do anything for people's welfare even though it has done many things which were beyond its jurisdiction. It could not build food security in the country. It could not even generate one megawatt of power. The country is lagging behind including in poverty alleviation and export earnings."
"The government should hand over power to elected representatives without delay after holding elections as it has no success except curbing corruption," said Hafiz, acting secretary general of the pro-Saifur faction of BNP, during a press briefing at his Banani home.
Expressing doubt about the upcoming dialogues between the government and political parties, he said the dialogues would not be meaningful without the participation of the two main parties--BNP and Awami League.
On his faction's participation in the dialogue, he said they will decide on it later consulting party leaders. He said it was unfortunate that the authorities did not mention his designation in the invitation letter for the dialogues.
"They [the government] should not have arranged for the dialogues as no dialogues have been successful in the past and I think this will also be unsuccessful," he said hoping that a united BNP would participate in the dialogues.
Demanding release of BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia, he said it would be tough for BNP to participate in the elections without her presence.
He asked the government to stop arresting political leaders. "Many arrests were made. This is enough. Now stop it and begin the work for holding a free and fair election," he said.
Hinting at Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan and other leaders' recent surrender and arrest, he said the "arrests" have put the elections into uncertainty and the "free-style arrest of political leaders" was not necessary at all.
About the proposed "national charter", Hafiz said the government cannot impose it as only the political parties can make a charter to lead the country by reaching a consensus on some major issues.
He said if necessary the government can hold a referendum to have the people's opinion about negative politics.
Asked whether his faction has weakened after M Saifur Rahman left the country and Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan surrendered, he said his faction is not weak at all as the former lawmakers of the party are the main source of power in the faction.