Dhaka //

A number of political parties, including BNP-Jamaat, have reacted immediately to the speech given to the nation by the interim government’s chief advisor Dr. Muhammad Yunus. The leaders of the parties said that the government’s statement on elections and reforms should have been clearer. There is no alternative to a quick election roadmap to protect democracy and fulfill the expectations of the people.

BNP Senior Joint Secretary General Advocate Ruhul Kabir Rizvi said in an immediate reaction, ‘I believe that he (Dr. Yunus) will do the work that needs to be done to establish a strong democracy. I believe that he will work in line with the hopes and aspirations of the nation; so that democracy can be further strengthened.’

Jamaat-e-Islami Naib-e-Amir Dr. Syed Abdullah Mohammad Taher said, ‘Our point is that the roadmap for reforms and elections needs to be made clear to the people as soon as possible. We think it is not possible for the interim government to reform everything. They should focus more on some urgent reforms, such as the election commission reform, the judiciary reform, and reforms to some more aspects of the constitution, and reform these urgent issues before the election. We are not disappointed with the Prime Minister’s speech – we will request him to clarify his statement further.’

Revolutionary Workers Party General Secretary Saiful Haque said, ‘First of all, I see the speech given to the nation as positive. He is trying to instill a sense of confidence among the people. But people would have been reassured if they knew about more specific steps from the government regarding the concerns of the people regarding the prices of commodities and the unstable and unstable market.

There are positive indications in what Dr. Muhammad Yunus said about the election. However, he could not mention the specific schedule and timeline of the election. When he said that the election could be postponed for a few more months if necessary. If there was a specific date for the election, there would have been a question of moving the election forward or backward. In that case, if he had been more specific, the country’s political parties, voters and the people could have been reassured. And there is also the issue of organizational preparation of the political parties regarding the government’s entire roadmap. He clarified a little in his speech this time, but there was an opportunity to clarify more.