Bangladesh News

Leaders of both factions in BNP in a crucial meeting yesterday reached a consensus and prepared a draft charter for reuniting the party, which will be made public soon, according to meeting sources.

The meeting reached a consensus that pro-Saifur faction will nullify the decisions made in the much disputed October 29, 2007 meeting of the so-called standing committee, where the clique was formed appointing Saifur Rahman and Maj (retd) Hafizuddin Ahmed acting chairman and acting secretary general respectively.

The move will mean dissolution of pro-Saifur faction and merger of it with Khaleda loyalists currently led by the detained chairperson appointed Secretary General Khandaker Delwar Hossain.

Pro-Saifur leaders will also take necessary steps so the party may use its central office, and will re-activate the party’s bank account which they froze following the emergence of the factional feud.

While pro-Khaleda faction leaders assured their rivals that they will do everything to persuade the party’s detained Chairperson Khaleda Zia to revoke the expulsion of three party leaders including Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan, and to reinstate him to a respectable post in the party.

The meeting sources said pro-Khaleda leaders will discuss the matter with Khaleda Zia during her scheduled appearance before a court on May 20 in connection with Niko graft case filed against her.

Khandaker Delwar Hossain, also a senior advocate, will represent her in the court as her counsel.

Party insiders hope that Delwar will get a chance to discuss party affairs with the chairperson during her presence in the court, and that she will agree to revoke the expulsion of three party leaders — Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan, Ashraf Hossain, and Mofiqul Hasan Tripti.

Hafiz led Saifur loyalists while Brig Gen (retd) Hannan Shah led Khaleda loyalists in the meeting held in a Gulshan house in the capital.

When asked about the meeting Lt Gen (retd) Mahbubur Rahman, a senior leader of pro-Saifur faction, told The Daily Star last evening, “We will participate in the dialogues with the government and will enter the party central office as a united organisation.”

According to the primary agreement between the groups, leaders of both factions will enter the party’s central office in Nayapaltan area of the capital soon under Delwar’s leadership, but before that they will make their re-unification public through the media.

The sources said the draft charter for re-unification was already placed before Khandaker Delwar Hossain and Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan, eliciting consent from both.

Saifur-led faction recently assigned five of its leaders including Lt Gen (retd) Mahbubur Rahman to take necessary steps to discuss the party’s re-unification with Delwar-led Khaleda loyalists, resulting in several meetings between the factions over the last few days, where pro-Khaleda faction was represented by Brig Gen (retd) Hannan Shah, Nazrul Islam Khan, and Ghoyeswer Chandra Roy.