‘Don't want to make excuses’: PM apologises over energy crisis

Prime Minister Tarique Rahman today (5 September) apologised to people suffering from the country's ongoing energy crisis, including shortages of fuel and electricity.

"The Bangladesh Nationalist Party is currently responsible for running the country. Many people, including owners of industries and factories, are facing electricity and fuel shortages. On behalf of the party, I apologise to all of them," he said.

The prime minister made the remarks while addressing a discussion marking the 48th founding anniversary of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) at the Krishibid Institution Bangladesh auditorium in Farmgate, Dhaka, today.

The programme was organised under the slogan, "We will work, we will build the country, Bangladesh first."

Tarique said, "We are trying to resolve all the problems we have inherited, whether from the authoritarian regime or the interim government".

"We [the government] do not want to use them merely as an excuse. Rather, we want to present the reality and take steps so that the country does not face such problems again in the future," he added.

"But we are noticing that some political parties and individuals are trying in different ways to create confusion by exploiting these problems, and through this confusion they are trying to create anarchy in the country," he said.

The prime minister said the government had adopted an action plan to address the problems but implementing it would take time.

The prime minister said the BNP was working on the plan to ensure people do not face another fuel crisis even if different types of crises emerge globally in the future.

The discussion was chaired by BNP Acting Secretary General and the prime minister's political adviser Ruhul Kabir Rizvi. BNP Central Publicity Secretary and State Minister for Fisheries and Livestock Sultan Salahuddin Tuku moderated the event.