An ominous sign for country

Terming the prime minister's remarks about the chief justice “an ominous sign for the country,” the BNP yesterday said it would make the country's prevailing situation more confrontational.

The party said Sheikh Hasina, also the Awami League president, made some comments about the highest court, the judiciary and judges and even made a personal attack on Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha.

“We were stunned and perturbed to see this. The ruling party men created an environment by making the judiciary the target of their attack over a verdict. We think this is an ominous sign for the country, nation and politics,” BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said at an emergency press briefing at the party chief's Gulshan office.

He alleged that the PM through her statements threatened the CJ to step down and attempted to provoke the people against the CJ and the judiciary.

“We fear that this irresponsible behaviour might make the country's prevailing situation more confrontational,” he added.

Fakhrul said the way the PM pushed the country's public and constitutional bodies into a confrontation was tantamount to “playing with fire”.

“We want to say that the consequences of undermining the judiciary and the country's top court won't be good. We call upon the ruling party to turn away from this path of self-destruction.”

Asked about the AL's ultimatum to the CJ to step down, Fakhrul said the party's only target was to introduce “a one-party rule in the country as it didn't have any public mandate”.

Replying to a query from a journalist, he said a “confrontational situation” among the three organs of the state was not a good sign at all.

Speaking at the press conference, BNP Standing Committee Member Moudud Ahmed said, “It's rare that the prime minister of a country made such comments on the judiciary. It's not possible in any other country in the world. I think if she [prime minister] was elected in the true sense, she would not have made such comments.”

Speaking at a discussion in the capital on Monday, Hasina said the higher court was suddenly making “some political comments and issuing threats”, reported BSS.

She said there were many “irrelevant issues” in the 16th amendment verdict.

About the Supreme Court's observations on the reserved seats for women MPs, Hasina said the CJ might have forgotten the appointment process. “He was appointed by the president who is elected by lawmakers. He should have resigned from his post before making any comment on the election process of the women MPs or after delivering the verdict.”