Kazi Zahidul Hasan :
Voicing deep concern over the country’s volatile situation, business leaders once again urged the rival parties to come across the table for having a ‘fruitful dialogue’ to resolve the current political impasse.
They also urged the BNP-led opposition alliance to find out alternatives to hartal and blockade for the sake of national economy.
The business leaders apprehend that if the present crisis prolongs, it could lead to a serious decline in export earnings, remittances and investment, and also a drastic fall in the government’s revenue earnings.
“Feuding parties must sit for dialogue and find out ways for reaching understanding among them to
resolve the current political standoff,” Abdus Salam Murshedy, President of the Exporters Association of Bangladesh (EAB) told The New Nation on Sunday.
He said the current political chaos continues to disrupt trade and business, leading the country to a deep economic uncertainty. “We expect sensible role from the political parties to overcome the crisis.”
“Political stability is a pre-requisite for the economic growth and the politicians should maintain it at any cost. The current situation demands a fruitful dialogue among the rival parties,” added Murshedy. Frustrated by the ongoing violence, the EAB chief said that the enforcement of hartal and a nonstop blockade has already crippled shipment of the export-oriented industries. “The exporters are sustaining huge losses due to delay in shipment and cancellation of export orders. The losses may go up significantly if the situation is not improved immediately,” he said. Murshedy urged the opposition alliance to refrain from enforcing violent political programmes like hartal and blockade for the sake of country’s economy.
When asked, he said, “Since it’s a political problem, the solution must come from the political parties, not from the business leaders.” “The current political stalemate has already started taking a toll on all economic sectors. It also threatened the growth prospect of the garment export,” said M Shahidullah Azim, Vice-President of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA).
The country’s RMG sector received a severe blow from the ongoing political violence because the turmoil has not only broken the supply chain of the industry but also seriously affected its production and export activities.
“If the situation is not improved immediately, the country’s prime export industry (garments) will collapse soon,” he said.
Terming the country’s political situation as ‘grave,’ the BGMEA leader said, “Panic and tension have gripped the people and the country can not run in such a grave situation for a long time. “People and businesses need to be freed from the uneasy situation immediately. The political parties must play their due role in this regard. Both the ruling party and the opposition alliance should realize the demand of the time and sit for a dialogue to overcome the crisis,” the BGMEA leader said.
Expressing grave concern over the situation, Mohammad Hatem, a former Vice-President of Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA) said that the main political parties are now engaged in political confrontation, leading the country to a deep economic and social uncertainty. “Economy continues to bleed due to violent political programmes and it will turn into ‘anemic’ one if political instability prevails for a long time,” he said.
He called upon the government to engage in dialogue with the mainstream opposition to resolve the crisis. Only an effective dialogue among the political parties can make a headway in overcoming the existing political crisis, he said.
