Pro-reform BNP leaders agree to ask Khaleda to quit as party chief

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Pro-reforms leaders of BNP have agreed on principle to ask BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia to step down from the party-chief position. Simultaneously, they are also trying to lobby the councillors, the leaders who can bring changes in the party constitution.

Highly placed BNP sources said the pro-reforms leaders of BNP had a number of meetings with BNP Secretary General Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan at his Gulshan residence to discuss reforms in the party and decided there to ask the party chief about resigning.

A number of high-ranking BNP leaders including BNP standing committee member M Shamsul Islam, former minister Osman Farruk, former minister MK Anwar, former lawmaker Shakawat Hossain Bakul and Dhaka City Mayor and Dhaka City unit BNP President Sadeque Hossain Khoka met Bhuiyan yesterday. Bhuiyan also met several other leaders over the last couple of days to discuss Khaleda’s resignation issue and the formulation of reforms proposal, the sources said.

Besides this, former BNP lawmakers from the northern part of the country had dinner at former whip Rezaul Bari Dina’s home at Lalmatia in the capital where they agreed to support Bhuiyan’s reforms initiatives.

Among others GM Siraj, Abdul Momen Talukder, Ziaul Haque Mollah and Rafiqul Islam from Bogra, Mojaher Hossain from Panchagarh, Salek Chowdhury and Shamsuzzoha Khan from Naogaon, Anwarul Islam from Pabna, Mozammel Haque from Natore, Abdul Mannan Talukdar from Sirajganj, Abdul Aleem from Joypurhat attended the dinner.

Asked about Khaleda Zia’s stepping down, a former lawmaker from the BNP stronghold of Bogra following the dinner said, “Inshallah [with Allah's help], Khaleda will bow down to the pressure.”

However, many in the party believe reforms in the party would not be implemented without the support of its councillors. They said only the party councillors have the authority to bring changes in the party constitution.

According to a BNP source, about 2,000 BNP councillors from across the country already assured pro-reforms leaders that they will support reforms if a party council meeting was held to bring changes in the party constitution to ensure a democratic process in running the party.

Meanwhile, a number of pro-reforms leaders yesterday said they do not want reforms in the party at the cost of a split in the party.

“I came here to know about what is happening in the party… we want reforms but not a split in the party and I do not think Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan [BNP secretary general] wants splits in the party,” former whip Shahidul Haque Jamal told reporters after his meeting with the BNP secretary general yesterday at his Gulshan residence.

Sources in the BNP said pro-reforms leaders would announce some proposals, including drastically curtailing the power of party chairperson, for discussion at all levels of the party. However, the decision for reforms would be made through the party council, which will be held once the ban on indoor politics is lifted.

A BNP leader requesting anonymity said changes in the party constitution is a lengthy process as a council meeting would be called for with a minimum seven-day time and every councillor would get a copy of the existing constitution and the draft copy of the proposals.

According to the BNP constitution, presidents, general secretaries and organising secretaries of each 480 upazila and 147 municipality committees, presidents, vice-presidents, general secretaries, assistant general secretaries and organising secretaries of 72 organisational district committees, all members of central executive committee, standing committee and advisory council to the chairperson will be treated as councillors and they may effect any changes to the party constitution.

Beside this, the chairperson may nominate 10 percent more people as councillors from different committees of the party. A total of around 3,000 councillors will decide on reforms and among them at least 400 councillors are in jails across the country on different charges.

“Most of the councillors will support the reforms, even the majority would stand against Khaleda Zia if she did not agree to accept the reforms,” a pro-reforms leader told The Daily Star.

BNP Joint Secretary General Goyeswar Chandra Ray, however, told The Daily Star, “We do not differ on reforms but we have objections to include or exclude anyone from the party.”

“We need systematic reforms… no person is indispensable to the party or the only source of problems in the party,” he added.

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