5 BNP standing body members back Delwar for EC talks

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Five out of eight BNP standing committee members, who are neither in jail nor expelled by its detained chairperson, asked the Election Commission (EC) yesterday to invite Khandaker Delwar Hossain as the legitimate representative of the party to the electoral reform talks with it.

The request came in form of an official letter to the EC from the five standing committee members on the last day of deadline set by the commission for two feuding factions of the party to reconcile.

A delegation of the faction loyal to Chairperson Khaleda Zia handed over the letter signed by the five to the EC yesterday afternoon, as the 72-hour deadline for reunification came to an end.

The delegation at a meeting with the EC argued that their faction is now the mainstream of BNP deserving the commission’s invitation to the electoral reform talks, since five out of the eight available undisputed standing committee members endorsed Delwar-led pro-Khaleda faction as legitimate.

Out of the 12 members of BNP standing committee, six who are not in jail including Delwar are Khaleda loyalists; three are in jail accused of corruption and other crimes; and three are the top leaders of the rival faction led by former finance minister Saifur Rahman, with one of them being expelled by the detained chairperson right before her arrest.

Yesterday’s letter of Khaleda loyalists also urged the commission not to portray BNP as divided, although the delegation leader Nazrul Islam Khan said after the meeting that a discussion is on for reunification, adding that it is however not the duty of the EC to reunite two factions of a party.

Reporters got hold of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) ATM Shamsul Huda last afternoon as he was leaving the EC Secretariat premises and asked him about the EC’s next course of actions regarding the issue, but the chief declined to comment.

Talking to reporters on Friday and Saturday over the phone, the other two election commissioners — Muhammed Sohul Hussain and Brig Gen (retd) M Sakhawat Hussain — however said the EC would take a decision in a couple of days.

The commission on Thursday held separate meetings with the two rival factions of BNP and asked them to reconcile within the next 72 hours to participate in the electoral reform dialogues unitedly.

But yesterday as the deadline was coming to an end, pro-Khaleda faction leaders sat in a meeting of an hour and a half with the EC claiming that they are the mainstream of the party.

In the letter the five standing committee members said without even engaging in a debate over the legitimacy of the much disputed October 29, 2007 meeting of the BNP standing committee, the EC is being informed that even four of the six members of the committee who had been present in that meeting, later through affidavits told a court that the meeting had not been of the standing committee.

“So, the Election Commission has no scope for considering the decisions taken in that so-called standing committee meeting,” continued the letter signed by Dr RA Gani, Khandaker Mahbubuddin Ahmed, Chowdhury Tanvir Ahmed Siddiqui Shamsul Islam and Abdul Matin Chowdhury.

The October 29 meeting, ostensibly of the BNP standing committee, appointed M Saifur Rahman and Hafizuddin Ahmed as acting chairman and acting secretary general of BNP respectively giving rise to the current factional feud in the party that in turn is wreaking havoc in EC’s electoral reform dialogue schedule.

The EC however considered the October 29 meeting’s decisions as valid and sent an invitation to Hafiz of pro-Saifur faction on November 5 asking them to participate in the dialogue, ignoring the objections of BNP chairperson appointed Secretary General Delwar, who is also a standing committee member.

“We hope, the election commission being a constitutional body will not engage in a fresh debate and it will communicate with Khandaker Delwar Hossain, who is the secretary general according to BNP’s constitution, regarding polls and party related issues,” the letter to the EC signed on April 17 said.

“Otherwise, responsibilities of ill efforts to make BNP look divided will squarely fall on the shoulders of the Election Commission,” it went on.

Emerging from the meeting with the EC, Khaleda loyalist Nazrul Islam Khan, who led the four-member delegation, said the commission assured them of considering their demands.

“The Election Commission however requested us to be united, and we asked them to follow BNP’s constitution in taking any decision regarding the party until that unity,” Nazrul told reporters.

When his attention was drawn to a report published in a newspaper quoting two election commissioners that Saifur-led faction will be invited to the dialogue, Nazrul said, “We drew the two election commissioners’ attention to the matter, and they denied making such comments.”

Asked, what if the EC does not hold a dialogue with BNP at all since the party is divided, Nazrul said, “We will decide on our next steps through discussions if the Election Commission does so.”

He however said without talking to BNP the EC cannot claim that its dialogues with political parties and public representatives have been over.

About BNP’s standing committee, the highest policymaking body, Nazrul said eight of the twelve members of the committee are now available, and only two of them — Saifur Rahman and Lt Gen (retd) Mahbubur Rahman — are in the rival camp. He mentioned Mannan Bhuiyan as expelled.

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