Dhaka: President Abdul Hamid on Sunday called upon both the ruling and opposition parties to play their due role in Parliament to strengthen the country’s democratic process and fulfill the expectations of the nation.

He came up with call while addressing the first session of the New Year in Parliament in the evening.

‘The National Parliament is the centre of expectation of the country’s general people. The present government is working sincerely to establish the country as a developed and enlightened one through strengthening its democratic process,’ the President said.

Alongside the ruling party, he said, the opposition needs to play a constructive role in ensuring transparency, accountability, tolerance, human rights and good governance in the country.

Abdul Hamid also urged all to get united aiming to uphold the spirit of the Liberation War, strengthen democracy and good governance, eliminate terrorism and militancy from the country, and establish a society free from exploitation. 

The present government, led by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, is working hard to establish a progressive, democratic, non-communal and poverty-free Bangladesh in line with its Vision 2021 and spirit of the Liberation War, he said.

The President said Bangladesh has already become a lower-income country and it will be a developed one well before 2041 if the trend of development continues.

Recalling the government’s stance to fight terrorism and militancy, he said war crimes trial against the people who committed crimes during the Liberation War in 1971 continues, showing respect to the international crimes tribunal acts and rules.

The government is also showing zero tolerance to terrorism and militancy for which Bangladesh is now recognised as a reliable country by the international community, he said adding that the government has been combating these problems in line with the steps taken in its previous tenure and this has resulted in checking the acts of sabotage and ensuring peace in public life.

The President said Bangladesh has achieved a significant progress at all indicators of the economy due to prudent management of the government in addition to the better progress in social indicators compared to neighbouring countries.

About the country’s GDP growth, he said Bangladesh had a steady 6.5 GDP growth over the last five years due to the government’s prudent fiscal and monetary policies. The final estimate of GDP growth during fiscal 2015-16 was 7.11 percent while the per-capita income has increased to US$ 1,465 during the period.

During the fiscal 2015-16, the remittance inflow stood at US$ 14.93 billion, said the President adding that the foreign exchange during the fiscal 2015-16 showed US$ 3.7 billion surplus due to reduction in trade imbalance and deficit in hospitality sector and primary income sectors. 

In his speech, Abdul Hamid also highlighted the country’s progress in communications, education, banking, environment, manpower, youth and development, ICT, housing and other sectors.

At the beginning of his speech, he recalled the contributions of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, four slain national leaders — Syed Nazrul Islam, Tajuddin Ahmed, M Mansur Ali and AHM Quamruzzaman — and others who scarified their lives for the nation.