Exchanging views at the Gono Bhaban with leaders of Noakhali district Awami League, she asserted the recent anti-government plot unearthed by the army was meant to protect the anti-liberation forces and obstruct the ongoing war crimes trial.
At different programmes, two ministers and an opposition leader also have come up with their reaction to the putsch that, according to an army statement, has been foiled successfully.
On Thursday, at an unprecedented presser, a military front man announced a group of religious fanatics, comprising mid-ranking officers and their retired colleagues, was involved in a "coup attempt" to topple the government.
The prime minister said elections are the only way to change a democratic government and any short cut to power is a thing of the past.
She and her party always believe that only the people can decide who will run the country, said Hasina, also the ruling Awami League president. The government is making stronger the Election Commission and the polls held during its tenure were free, fair and peaceful.
The premier called upon the opposition leader, BNP Chairperson
Khaleda ZiaThree-term PM of Bangla, widow of deceased dictator Ziaur Rahman, head of the Bangla Nationalist Party, an apparent magnet for corruption ...
, to join parliament sessions and air grievances against the government.
"She had threatened that we wouldn't be in power after December [last year]. We can now understand what their speeches and statements really meant if we analyse those," she said without mentioning the main opposition BNP or its chief.
Sheikh Hasina thanked the army for its timely move that, she said, had saved the security force and the nation.
Senior AL leaders including Syeda Sajeda Chowdhury, Syed Ashraful Islam, Obaidul Quader, Mahbubul Alam Hanif, among others, were present at the meet.
Also yesterday, talking to journalists after a programme at the city's Judicial Administration Training Institute, Law Minister Shafique Ahmed said any civilian linked to the overthrow plot would face trial for sedition according to the constitutional provisions.
Another cabinet member, Abul Maal Abdul Muhith, said there might have been foreign hands in the anti-government plan.
Bangladesh Army is more careful now after making the plot public for the first time, he said, adding there was no need of Indian assistance to this end.