to clear the way for a midterm election.

Speaking at the biennial council of Dinajpur district Awami League at the local municipal hall, he called for unity of pro-liberation forces to launch a united movement for midterm election.

He said the country has been passing through a critical juncture and if necessary, the opposition parties will form a coalition government to put an end to the politics of anti-liberation elements.

Describing the BNP secretary general's press statement on Friday's arms haul in Chittagong as a belated reaction, the AL leader said inconsistencies in statements of Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan and their allies are the reflection of "nervousness and crisis of confidence".

He observed that Bhuiyan's statement is nothing but a futile effort to consolidate his position in the party at a time when the elders are about to be washed away by the young Turks in leadership, who believe in the policy of "money and muscle".

In the statement, Jalil said the BNP secretary general himself admitted there had not been any smuggling of illegal weapons during the AL rule, which means the Awami League government proved its efficiency in checking arms smuggling into the country.

"During the Awami League rule, Bangladesh was never used as a gunrunning route, but whenever BNP came to power, Bangladesh turned into a safe haven for international terrorism, with incidents of arms smuggling occurring more often than not," he said.

The AL general secretary questioned why there has not been proper investigation into the seized illegal weapons: "For whose interest the investigations were mysteriously hushed up?"

Whenever illegal weapons were seized, BNP government tried to shift the blame onto the opposition and divert the process of investigation, he alleged.

When the people expect satisfactory explanation of the biggest-ever arms haul, Mannan Bhuiyan tried to shrug off his responsibilities by issuing a shabby political statement, he said.

"Such a statement from Mannan Bhuiyan, meant for diverting public attention, is not only ludicrous but also indicates the link of the high-ups of the government with this arms smuggling," Jalil said.