The New Nation - Internet Edition

UNB, Dhaka

Acting Awami League president Zillur Rahman Wednesday said that free, fair and credible elections can't be possible in the country without release of detained party chief and ex-Prime Minister Shekh Hasina.

"Advisors of the caretaker government assured us of holding election as per announced roadmap during the pre-dialogue talks and we believe that election would be held during the scheduled time," he said. But release of Sheikh Hasina is the only way to ensure free and credible polls, he observed.

Zillur was talking to reporters at his Gulshan residence when Jubo Mohila League leaders handed over a memorandum with two-lakh signatures from the women community demanding unconditional release of Sheikh Hasina.

He said the leaders and workers of the party are agitating for freeing the party president and it is not possible for them at this moment to control the protestors. "We don't want to go for creating any awful circumstances and the government should have to understand this," the AL leader cautioned.

Zillur said the government pledged to hold the election in time several times and hoped that the government would keep its word and hold the parliamentary elections by the end of 2008. He, however, observed that there couldn't be fair and credible election without Sheikh Hasina's presence.

Responding to a query about the party's demand at the pre-dialogue regarding release of Hasina, the acting AL president said they were hopeful that Hasina would be freed ahead of the formal talks with the government.

He expressed his apprehension over the latest health condition of Sheikh Hasina and alleged that the jail authority is playing hide-and-seek games with them about her health. He asked the government to send her abroad for her better treatment. AL leaders Amir Hossain Amu, Tofael Ahmed, Motia CHowdhury, Abdul Mannan and Captain (Retd) Tajul Islam and Jubo Mohila League leaders Nazma Akter, Apu Ukil and Sabina Akter Tuhin were present among others at the programme.