BNP unification move stops as Saifur wants no strings

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The process of unity between two rival factions of BNP came to a grinding halt as pro-Saifur faction in a meeting yesterday decided not to pursue unification unless pro-Khaleda faction withdraws the conditions it had slapped on it.

Leader of pro-Khaleda faction Khandaker Delwar Hossain said on Saturday that unification can take place only if pro-Saifur faction disbands itself and declares null and void the meeting in which it had been formed.

Some BNP standing committee members in a meeting in Saifur’s Gulshan residence in the capital on October 29 of last year appointed former finance minister M Saifur Rahman as the party’s acting chairperson and replaced Khandaker Delwar Hossain with Maj (retd) Hafizuddin Ahmed as the acting secretary general, giving rise to the raging factional feud.

“The decisions of the October meeting will not be cancelled and no discussion will continue with Delwar if he does not withdraw the conditions,” M Saifur Rahman told journalists after a closed door meeting of his faction in his residence yesterday.

Meanwhile, leaders of pro-Khaleda faction yesterday said their rivals had already violated the party constitution once by holding an ‘illegitimate meeting which they had claimed as a meeting of the standing committee and by forming a new committee there’.

“They once again proved that they are serving a certain quarter,” Ruhul Kabir Rizvi, acting office secretary of pro-Khaleda faction told The Daily Star commenting on their rivals’ yesterday’s decision adding, if pro-Saifur faction wants to do anything good for the party then they should cancel the ‘illegitimate decisions taken in the illegitimate October meeting’.

Referring to the controversial October 29 meeting, Delwar, who had been appointed secretary general of the party by now detained Chairperson Khaleda Zia, told reporters on Friday that Saifur-led faction must cancel ‘the decisions of the illegitimate meeting’ if they want unity.

In another development, four standing committee members, who do not have any clear allegiance to any of the factions, replied to a notice issued by a court regarding the factional feud in BNP, saying that the October 29 meeting was not a standing committee meeting as only the party chairperson is empowered to call such of meeting.

According to Delwar’s lawyer, the court had sent notices to standing committee members following a writ petition filed by Khandaker Delwar Hossain challenging an Election Commission decision to invite pro-Saifur faction as the representative of BNP to an electoral dialogue with it.

According to sources, in his reply to the court notice, Chowdhury Tanveer Ahmed Siddique said the disputed meeting was not of the standing committee, rather it was a gathering of party colleagues for having tea together, ‘which was propagated as a standing committee meeting by a third party working behind the scene’.

When asked about the affidavits of the four standing committee members yesterday, Maj (retd) Hafiz Uddin Ahmed of pro-Saifur faction said he did not believe that the four of his party colleagues could have said anything like that. “They all are senior leaders of the party, so I believe they wouldn’t do anything that might make the party a laughing stock.”

Pro-Saifur leaders expressed their resentments at Delwar’s remarks on the unification process, alleging that he is now the only obstacle remaining in the way of uniting the party.

About 45 pro-Saifur leaders including at least 35 former lawmakers attended the two-hour meeting yesterday in Saifur Rahman’s house with him in the chair.

Meeting sources said leaders of the faction discussed party unification and proposed that key leaders of the faction do not push for unity any more if Delwar does not recant his ‘objectionable remarks’ about pro-Saifur faction as well as the condition he had slapped on the unification process.

Maj (retd) Hafiz Uddin Ahmed, Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan, Chowdhury Kamal Ibne Yusuf, MA Hakim, ZA Khan, Mofazzal Karim, Rejaul Karim, Shamsul Alam Pramanik, Shahiduzzaman Beltu, Ataur Rahman Angur, Nurul Huda, Nasirul Haque Sabu, Delwar Hossain Dulu, SA Sultan Titu, and Mojahar Hossain attended the meeting among others.

The four standing committee members — Dr RA Gani, Tanvir Ahmed Siddiqui, M Shamsul Islam, and Khandaker Mahbubuddin Ahmad — who had submitted their replies to the court notice and who had also attended the October 29 meeting, were however not present in yesterday’s meeting.

“We want unity but Delwar is totally against it,” said Saifur, who was admitted to a hospital yesterday due to ailments, while talking to reporters after the meeting.

“How can we unite with someone who does not comply with the chairperson’s directions,” he said adding, Delwar’s demand for scrapping the decisions of the October 29 meeting will not be honoured.

Replying to a question he said no discussion between the two factions will be held if Delwar does not withdraw his condition. “It will be tough to unite the party if he [Delwar] does not change his policy,” said a seemingly annoyed Saifur.

Earlier at a news briefing in Saifur’s house, the faction’s Acting Secretary General Maj (retd) Hafiz Uddin Ahmed, told reporters, “The meeting welcomed the message from the party chairperson regarding unity, which she had sent through her lawyer.”

Khaleda’s lawyer Mahbub Uddin Khokon on February 1 had met her in a sub-jail on the national parliament building premises and later told reporters that the former prime minister had called upon all party members and sympathisers to reunite BNP.

Referring to the message Hafiz Uddin Ahmed said, “We responded to her call and we also support it but remarks made by Delwar disappointed us.”

About the October 29 meeting, Hafiz said nobody got any post in that meeting so it should not be made controversial.

“Saifur Rahman is performing his duty as the acting chairperson by default as he is the most senior leader after Khaleda Zia, I was appointed only on a temporary basis to avoid any controversy,” he said adding that their faction wants to see a united party run by an elected committee.

Hafiz also said unity must be unconditional as the party chairperson herself sent directions to reunite the party.

He however hoped that their faction will be recognised as the mainstream BNP by the court also, just like it had been by the Election Commission.

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