Tea talks fail to clear clouds of brewing storm: Blockade on

countryman · Gold Discusser Joined: 28 Nov 2006 Posts: 27

Dhaka, Dec 3 (bdnews24.com) -- The presidential tea meetings that went long into Saturday night failed to produce results as Awami League leader Abdul Jalil came out at 12.50am to tell reporters: The blockade is on.

The non-stop blockade, announced by AL and allies early last week to force Iajuddin Ahmed to quit as chief adviser and remove all election commissioners, will shut Dhaka from the rest of Bangladesh.

"We asked him to prepare the ground for a free election. We told him the Election Commission needed to be reorganized," Jalil said of the two-and-a-half-hour meeting between Sheikh Hasina and the President.

Hasina led a strong team of 14-party allies to the "tea" meeting that went way past midnight. All 10 advisers were present.

Topping the list of 14-party demands was appointment of a new chief adviser.

The Hasina meeting followed Khaleda's earlier in the evening. However, the President had an exclusive one-on-one meeting with the BNP chairperson, according to Adviser Mahbubul Alam. Hasina was not granted a similar privilege.

At around 1.10am Sunday morning, Alam briefed reporters on the outcome of the two so-called tea meetings.

The adviser said the cabinet will sit Sunday to discuss demands from both camps. He said similiar separate meetings will follow immediately.

"If necessary, we'll meet them again on Sunday," Alam said.

Jail said the allies also demanded an updated voter list and cancellation of polls schedule.

BNP will not object to a change in the polls schedule but told the President voting date must not be deferred, Secretary General Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan said Saturday night.

"The election must be held within the stipulated time," Bhuiyan told reporters after Khaleda Zia, accompanied by fellow four-party leaders, ended at 9.45pm nearly two hours of talks with President Iajuddin Ahmed.

She led a 13-member team of her alliance to the meeting attended also by all 10 advisers and EC secretary Abdur Rashid Sarker.

The BNP chairperson, Bhuiyan said, asked the President to take steps for the blockade to be lifted as she placed a six-point demand.

Khaleda's demands included continuation of the election process, improvement in law and order, and ensuring normality in public life, according to Bhuiyan.

Source: bdnews
http://www.bdnews24.com/details.php?cid=3&id=51742#tp51742

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