BNP chief Khaleda Zia today turned down Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's invitation for talks tomorrow to defuse a crisis over the upcoming general election but said she was open to dialogue after an opposition- sponsored 60-hour nationwide shutdown.
Hasina and Zia spoke on the phone this evening - believed to be their first conversation in at least a decade - to explore possibilities of a dialogue after failed attempts by the Prime Minister to talk to the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) chief earlier in the day.
The premier invited Zia to hold talks over dinner at her official residence tomorrow to end the current political impasse but the opposition leader turned down the offer while agreeing to hold talks after the shutdown ends on October 29.
Explaining the BNP's position, Zia's press secretary Maruf Kamal Sohel told reporters that the opposition leader "accepted" the premier's invitation but deferred the proposed talks by saying "the dialogue can be held after the hartal (strike)".
During her 37-minute phone call to Zia, Hasina said, "Please withdraw the 60-hour strike as I am sincere about a dialogue to ensure an inclusive election.
"Come to my residence with as many of your leaders as you want. Let us talk frankly," Hasina was quoted as saying by B D News portal.
"We will hold talks but cannot withdraw the hartal," Zia was quoted as telling the premier.
Officials familiar with the conversation said that Zia told Hasina it would be difficult for her to travel during the strike called by her party from tomorrow morning to mount pressure on the government to hold polls under a neutral caretaker set-up.
Earlier today, Hasina telephoned Zia but failed to speak to her as her phone was reportedly not functional. They finally spoke at around 6:30 pm (local time).
Hasina made the effort to contact her arch-rival a day after BNP supporters staged violent protests across Bangladesh to push the party's demand for setting up an interim government comprising non-political individuals. Six persons were killed and over 300 injured in clashes between BNP workers and security forces.
The premier proposed the formation of a caretaker government with representatives of all political parties, but this has been rejected by Zia.
