Bangladesh News

Pro-Saifur faction of BNP yesterday called for immediate release of Chairperson Khaleda Zia at a meeting with advisers to the caretaker government at state guesthouse Meghna in the city.

During the discussions preparatory to the planned dialogue between the government and political parities, they also demanded a free and fair election by this year-end, and proposed devising a code of conduct for the politicians to ensure discipline in post-election politics.

Besides, the pro-reform BNP leaders called for steps to bring down the prices of essentials without delay.

Communications Adviser Maj Gen (retd) Ghulam Quader, Foreign Affairs Adviser Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury, Commerce Adviser Hossain Zillur Rahman, Law Adviser AF Hassan Ariff and LGRD Adviser Anwarul Iqbal represented the government in the discussion.

Standing committee member Lt Gen (retd) Mahbubur Rahman led the BNP delegation that included Major (retd) Hafiz Uddin Ahmed, acting secretary general appointed by the standing committee, vice-presidents Chowdhury Kamal Ibne Yusuf and Osman Farruk, chairperson’s advisers Maj Gen (retd) ZA Khan and Mofazzal Karim, and former lawmaker Fazlul Azim.

Meanwhile, Khandaker Delwar Hossain, secretary general appointed by Khaleda Zia, yesterday said the government is not sincere in resolving the present crises through dialogue with political parties, or else it would not have met Saifur group instead of the ‘mainstream BNP’.

Describing the pro-reform faction as ‘BNP manufactured in the government factory’, he alleged that the caretaker administration government is staging a drama in the name of dialogue.

Delwar was talking to reporters after an emergency meeting with his party colleagues.

He, however, did not rule out the possibility of accepting the government’s invitation for unofficial talks. “We may join the talks with consent from the chairperson,” he observed.

Earlier in the day, the preparatory talks between the seven-member pro-Saifur delegation and the advisers lasted for about two hours, beginning at 12:30pm.

Coming out of the meeting, Maj (retd) Hafiz told reporters that they have demanded release of Chairperson Khaleda Zia since charges against her are ‘unsubstantiated’.

At the meeting they said the parliamentary election must be held by this December as mentioned in the Election Commission’s roadmap, otherwise democracy would be in grave peril.

Hafiz said they also discussed the price hike of food items and recommended measures for the government to arrest the upward spiral.

A code of conduct for post-election days should be formulated through discussions between the government and political parties, he added.

“It would help to put politics in order after the polls and also ensure that parliament is the centre of everything,” Hafiz said, adding that people must not be held hostage to the whims of political parties resorting to programmes like hartal and blockade.

Replying to a query, Lt Gen (retd) Mahbubur Rahman said elections cannot be held under the state of emergency. They have demanded its withdrawal as soon as possible.

Terming the talks with pro-Saifur leaders ‘fruitful’, Commerce Adviser Hossain Zillur Rahman said the BNP leaders have placed some specific proposals and those will help the formal dialogue to succeed.

“They have demanded implementation of the electoral roadmap while we’ve assured them that both the government and the Election Commission are working towards a meaningful and credible election,” he said, adding that the discussants have agreed on the need for a qualitative change in politics.

Referring to the proposal for a code of conduct, he said, “It is indeed a good suggestion and would be discussed in details during the formal talks.”

The adviser said the BNP delegation agreed with the government’s idea of holding dialogue with the people alongside the political parties.

He went on, “A qualitative change in politics is necessary and it should be achieved through talks that the party leaders said have the potential to be a Magna Carta.”

According to Hossain Zillur, the BNP leaders will support whatever decision the government would take regarding timings of local government elections and general election.

“They even said the government can hold upazila election at any time,” the adviser added.

Before going to the state guesthouse, the faction leaders met at acting chairman M Saifur Rahman’s Gulshan residence.

A meeting of party leaders and former lawmakers will be held at a Gulshan community centre today to decide the next course of action.

PRO-KHALEDA LEADERS’ REACTION
On the news of ‘unofficial talks’ between advisers and Saifur-led faction, the leaders loyal to the now detained former prime minister Khaleda Zia held an emergency meeting at Khandaker Delwar’s Nam flat.

During the four-hour long meeting from 11:00am, they decided they would attend the pre-dialogue talks if the interim government allows them to consult the detained chairperson.

Standing committee members RA Gani and Tanveer Ahmed Siddique, chairperson’s Advisers Brig Gen (retd) Hannan Shah and Mushfiqur Rahman, vice-presidents MK Anwar and Sarwari Rahman, joint secretaries general Goyeshwar Chandra Roy, Selima Rahman and MA Mannan, among others, attended the meeting.

The leaders also decided to take up programmes to press home the demand for the chairperson’s release. They might also send a letter to the EC asking it not to invite anyone except Khandaker Delwar to represent BNP in the electoral reforms talks.

“The government is actually staging a drama by holding talks with a BNP manufactured in the government factory. It’s unfortunate,” Delwar told newsmen.