Seven political parties, including the BNP and Jamaat, yesterday said Prof Muhammad Yunus-led interim government can take the time necessary for creating an atmosphere conducive to holding a free and fair election.

Along with the BNP and Jamaat, Amar Bangladesh Party, two factions of Gono Adhikar Parishad, Bangladesh Jatiya Party, and National Democratic Movement told Prof Yunus this at separate meetings in the state guest house Jamuna.

During the meetings, in which advisers Asif Nazrul, Adilur Rahman, Farida Akhter, Nahid Islam, and Asif Mahmud were present, the parties were asked if the National Day of Mourning should be observed and whether August 15 should remain a public holiday.

Sources who were present at the meetings said all the parties opined that August 15 should not be observed as a day of mourning, and the public holiday is not needed.

However, no decision was made in this regard, they said.

Emerging from the meeting, BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, who led an eight-member delegation to the meeting, told journalists, "We have given this interim government the time required to create a proper environment for holding an election."

He said they did not discuss the election and that the BNP did not mention any specific time frame for holding the next election.

Fakhrul said his party was extending its full support to all the activities of the interim government.

Sources in the BNP said the party urged the chief adviser to have all the cases against its leaders, including those against party chairperson Khaleda Zia and acting chairman Tarique Rahman, withdrawn.

Jamaat Ameer Shafiqur Rahman, who led an 11-member delegation to the meeting, told the media that his party's discussions with the interim government focused on national issues, not party specifics.

"We are hopeful that the interim government will solve various problems within a reasonable time," he said.

Andaleeve Rahman Partho, chairman of the Bangladesh Jatiya Party (BJP), said, "The fall of the Awami League [government] occurred through a revolution, and it will take some time for the situation to stabilise.

"For the last 15 years, everything the Awami League government did was illegal. Now, it's time to repair the state. We don't want to rush to an election. Whatever good this government does, we will support."

Chairman Bobby Hajjaj of National Democratic Movement (NDM) said, "We urged the advisers to remove the representatives in local governments and appoint administrators.

"We suggested changing the deputy commissioners and superintendents of police, and reforms to the Election Commission.

"We have received assurance from the chief adviser that neither the Awami League nor its people will be given power."

The convener of a faction of Gono Odhikar Parishad, Reza Kibria, said, "The interim government will work for as long as it takes to stabilise the situation in the country and create an environment conducive to polls."

Nurul Haque Nur, who led another faction of the Gono Odhikar Parishad, said they placed a 14-point demand before the chief adviser. "We have urged the swift implementation of reforms and preparation of a roadmap for national elections."

AB Party Convener AFM Solaiman Chowdhury, who led a three-member team at the meeting, said observing National Day of Mourning goes against the spirit of the proclamation of independence and the July uprising.

"Actually, we had only one thing on the agenda at today's meeting -- whether August 15 should be observed as national mourning day," party's Joint Member-secretary Asaduzzaman Fuaad told The Daily Star.

"This administration is an extraordinary government that took over following the mass uprising and ouster of a dictatorial regime. Therefore, the mood and feelings of the student and young protesters on the streets should be respected," Fuaad said he had told the chief adviser.

The party argued that no public holiday is observed for Abraham Lincoln or the founding fathers of the US or Winston Churchill in Britain.

Reza Kibria said, "There is no reason to have a holiday on August 15. We know that the Awami League tried to make August a month of mourning for us, but we liberated the country and regained independence on August 5. Therefore, it is necessary to cancel the public holiday.

"Today's discussion mainly focused on observing August 15. There is no justification for this day. Dr Yunus will make the final decision on whether this day will be observed."

Nur said, "We have requested a review of various important decisions made by the government…

"All political parties that participated in today's meetings, including ours, have said that August is a month of national revolution. We want to observe this month as a month of revolution. It is not a month of mourning. It is a month of happiness and peace."

The Awami League has been observing the day of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's assassination as National Day of Mourning. In 2001, the BNP-led four-party coalition government cancelled the holiday.

However, the High Court later ruled that the cancellation of the holiday was invalid.

This was the first day of meetings between the chief adviser and different political parties since Yunus-led interim government took office on August 8 following the fall of Sheikh Hasina-led Awami League government on August 5.

Ganatantra Mancha and Islami Andolan also had meetings with the chief adviser yesterday, but this paper could not reach them for comments.

The Daily Star