Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Tuesday said the issue of Rashed Khan Menon MP was over as the Awami League-led 14-party alliance resolved it following his recent remarks that people could not cast their votes in the last general election in 2018.
"Nasim (Mohammad Nasim) bhai, coordinator of the AL led 14-party, asked me whether I’ve any opinion of my own. I told him I’ve no opinion. I don’t want to say anything against anyone, you (14-party) sit and decide what you want to do," she said.
The Prime Minister said this while replying to a question at a press conference arranged at her official residence Ganobhaban on her Azerbaijan tour for attending the 18th summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM).
She said the 14-party, where the Workers' Party is a component, sat over the issue and they took their decision.
She also said Menon expressed his sorrow and everything is normal now. "I know for doing politics, I’ve to hear many things. If I remain busy with those then when I will run the state," she said.
Sheikh Hasina, also the president of ruling AL, said Menon might have forgotten that he also elected in the same election.
"When he questioned about that election then his victory in the election comes under question. I don’t know whether he said those words after realising everything or not," she said.
"He’s always like this…we had been doing politics since student life," she said.
Hasina mentioned that some remarks of Rashed Khan Menon in 1970 before the then general election and during the Mujib-Indira treaty.
"I’ve heard such speeches many times, with this he has done good for you (journalists), at least you got some issues to write," she said.
Hasina said many people talk about the 2018 election. "I’ve one question. If people did not cast their votes in the election and we do not have public support, the case would have been like the February 15, 1996 election. At that time, we were engaged in movement against the voter-less election and we forced Khaleda Zia to quit."
She said BNP could wage that kind of movement, but they miserably failed.
In the 2018 election, all the businessmen, professionals and government organisations lent their support to the Awami League, she said.
"I’ll tell you, it was the unprecedented incident in Bangladesh history," said the Prime Minister.
She went on saying, “Some 3,000-4,000 businessmen lend their support, but it does not mean that all of them belonged to Awami League, but they extended support to AL.”
"Their desire was to see us again in power then, we’re here just to run the county. We don’t collect our commission by opening Hawa Bhaban. We’ve opened the business to all," she added.
Speaking as the chief guest at a Barisal Town Hall party programme on October 19, Menon, who served at several ministries during the ruling Awami League’s last tenure, said Bangladesh’s voters were deprived of exercising their franchise in the last parliamentary elections.
“I was elected (as a lawmaker) in the last national election. Regardless, I testify that people could not cast their votes in the election,” Menon claimed.
