BNP Standing Committee Member Abdul Moyeen Khan today said any "unilateral" announcement of the election schedule will further complicate the existing political crisis.

"Any unilateral declaration of the election schedule will further complicate the existing confrontational political scenario prevailing in the country and will be detrimental to the efforts to restore a peaceful political environment in Bangladesh," he told The Daily Star.

His comments came as the Election Commission said the Chief Election Commissioner Habibul Awal will address the nation at 7:00pm today to announce the schedule for the 12th parliamentary election.

Reiterating that there is no place for violence in democracy, he said BNP is always open for dialogue and appreciates any move for consultation from stakeholders.

But the dialogue has to be meaningful, not just for the sake of dialogue itself. Talks must aim at resolving the current political crisis in a peaceful and just manner, he said.

The leader of the BNP emphasized the need for "confidence building" and "restoration of trust" among all parties. This is crucial to enable a meaningful dialogue on a level playing field to create a truly democratic society.

"We would urge all the well-wishers of Bangladesh and its people, including the diplomatic community here, to help create that congenial environment for a meaningful dialogue to restore democracy in Bangladesh through a free, fair and participatory election," he said.

There is no practical way to hold a dialogue in a situation when thousands of our party leaders and workers from top to bottom are in jails or custody due to fictitious cases, Moyeen said.

"We sincerely wish the government shuns this path of violence and coercion of the opposition so that an appropriate environment is created to facilitate that process."

"To elaborate on the concept of dialogue, when we say, we believe in democracy, we must also have accepted the existence of "differing opinions" in our lives and society as a whole," Moyeen mentioned.

Needless to say, these differences are resolved through mutual consultations, discussions or dialogues, in whatever nomenclature one may like to designate the mechanism, he added.

The same applies to the current confrontational political situation in Bangladesh which has escalated since the government's crackdown on the opposition on October 28, he said.