Chief Adviser's Special Assistant Mahfuj Alam on Saturday night said the government remains committed to controlling the prices of essential commodities as soon as possible at any cost, dismantling the "syndicate" and stopping "extortion".
"We hope we will find a solution. The government is very sincere. We expect that scope will be created very soon to dismantle the syndicate and stop extortion," he told reporters while responding to a question on the government's efforts to provide consumers some relief by keeping prices of essentials affordable.
Chief Adviser's Press Secretary Shafiqul Alam, Deputy Press Secretaries Apurba Jahangir and Abul Kalam Azad Majumder were also present at the media briefing held at Foreign Service Academy.
Mahfuj also said the government remains open to suggestions from the people, political parties and civil society members so that it can address consumers’ issues.
He said the law enforcement situation is gradually returning to normalcy from the initial bad shape and mentioned that the government from the very beginning has been trying to remain vocal against syndicate and extortion.
The briefing was arranged after the lengthy dialogue between the Chief Adviser and major political parties that began at 2:30 pm today and lasted till 9 pm.
BNP's demands include removal of “one or two” members of the interim government.
"There are one or two (persons) in the interim government who are obstructing the main spirit of the interim government and the people's uprising. We demanded their removal," BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir told reporters after the dialogue.
When Mahfuj's attention was drawn to BNP’s demand, he said it is normal to have dissatisfaction but they want to see whether the advisers are working properly in line with their responsibility.
"We hope they will work as per people’s desire," said the Special Assistant.
Responding to another question, Mahfuj said not only former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, all who were involved in mass killings will be brought to justice gradually following due legal procedures.
"From our side, we made it clear. The relevant departments and wings are working to that end," he said.
Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) called upon the Chief Adviser to interim government, Prof Muhammad Yunus, to announce a roadmap of the election along with the formation of a new election commission based on the consensus of major political parties.
“A new Election Commission will have to be formed immediately based on the consensus of major political parties suspending the Election Commission Appointment Act. We have asked to give a roadmap when the election commission will hold the election,” said the BNP Secretary General.
Regarding this, Chief Adviser’s Press Secretary Shafiqul Alam said there will be a consensus on reform programmes as there are six specific reform commissions which will submit their reports in December.
"Timeline depends on that consensus," he said, adding that work towards election-centric preparations including Election Commission formation will go ahead simultaneously.
