Bangladesh's Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus on Thursday sought support from political parties to take the nation forward through "unity" as he invited them to discuss a draft of the proclamation of the July uprising that toppled Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s regime.
Hasina, 77, has been living in India since August 5 after she fled Bangladesh following a massive student-led protest that toppled her Awami League's 16-year regime.
“When we work alone and see no one is beside us, we feel weak a bit. And when you all sit together, we get courage,” Yunus told the meeting attended by representatives of several political parties here.
Yunus, the Chief Adviser or de facto Prime Minister, said his government wants to take the nation forward through “unity”.
"We were born amid unity and the unity is our strength," he added.
Former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) sent one representative to the meeting, attended by the Right-wing Jamaat-e-Islam and several relatively smaller Left-leaning parties.
Several leaders of the Anti-Discrimination Students' Movement, which led the July-August uprising, and their main ally, the National Citizens Committee, which intends to emerge as a new political party with a new name, were present.
The Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB), the main Left-leaning party, and the CPB-led Left Alliance decided not to join the meeting, saying: “They can't join the meeting at such short notice.”
Hasina's Awami League and its allies were not invited to the meeting.
The interim government drafted the July Uprising proclamation after a series of dramatic episodes as the Anti-Discrimination Students Movement were set to declare the charter last month.
China visit
Bangladesh interim government’s adviser for foreign affairs Touhid Hossain will visit China from January 20 to 24 during which he will hold talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, Beijing announced here on Friday.