PM laments absence of strong opposition

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Monday expressed her frustration for not having a strong opposition in the country as the two main opposition parties, created by military rulers, don't have a base among the mass people.

"We are not getting strong opposition. They do not have their position among the people of the country," she said in a meeting with the officials of the Prime Minister's Office (PMO), reports UNB.

Regarding the opposition BNP and Jatiya Party she said both were created by the military dictators, who grabbed the state power defying the Constitution.

"They don't have any interest in the country and its people," she said.

The meeting lasting three and a half hours was held at the PMO with the prime minister in the chair.

Hasina urged the countrymen to ensure maximum usage of land to produce food to maintain self-sufficiency against the backdrop of the global crisis over the Ukraine conflict, the premier's press secretary Ihsanul Karim quoted her as saying after the meeting, reports BSS.

Sheikh Hasina said, "After two waves of Covid-19 pandemic, now the Russia-Ukraine war may expose the world to another crisis. Bangladesh need to prepare itself for any such crisis, developing its own arrangement to evade any possible food crisis and that is why no inch of land should be left uncultivated."

Talking about the price spiral, the PM said it has happened in the whole world and it also impacted Bangladesh.

"What we can do now, we have to encourage the people not to leave behind one inch of arable land," she said, adding that "It means we have to be self-sufficient in food production for all time."

Sheikh Hasina said the problem for Bangladesh due to the Russia-Ukraine war is the items imported from the international market. In this connection she mentioned LNG and fuel oil.

She asked the officials to think about the outcomes of the price hike of these items and take appropriate measures regarding the matter.

"We have to find out the alternatives of these right now to secure the livelihoods of the people of the country," she said.

Talking about the Vision 2041 she said that this is a structure and it can be changed from time to time if needed. "By this process the country will advance," she said.

The PM said that the Ashrayan Project will help the country a lot to make it free from poverty and hunger.

The premier's economic affairs adviser Mashiur Rahman, energy affairs adviser Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury, private Industry and investment adviser Salman F Rahman, ambassador-at-large Mohammad Ziauddin, principal coordinator of SDG affairs Zuena Aziz and the press secretary, among others, also spoke at the meeting conducted by the premier's Principal Secretary Ahmad Kaikaus.