Bangladesh News

After a period of lull, a fresh move is underway to reconcile the BNP factions following the release of some senior leaders including expelled secretary general Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan.

While most of the BNP leaders loyal to detained Chairperson Khaleda Zia want the party to unite without further delay, a group led by Secretary General Khandaker Delwar Hossain still prefers settling the issue after the chairperson’s release.

Insiders said efforts are on to have the expulsion of Bhuiyan, ex-joint secretary general Ashraf Hossain and ex-office secretary Mofiqul Islam Tripti withdrawn.

In exchange for a dignified return, Bhuiyan-led leaders will endorse all decisions made by the chairperson including Khandaker Delwar’s appointment as the secretary general, they continued.

According to the reconciliation plans, once a consensus is reached there would be no formal announcement or declaration from the party. Instead, Bhuiyan and his followers will hold a press conference to announce cancellation of all their decisions including those taken at the controversial standing committee meeting at Saifur Rahman’s residence on October 29 last year.

A former BNP lawmaker close to Bhuiyan said they are ready to do everything necessary for unity, which he said is a must for the organisation to do well in the upcoming national election.

“Now that Bhuiyan and his group are ready to cancel all the decisions they have taken since the chairperson’s arrest, I think the secretary general will give his consent to having them back into the fold,” a pro-Khaleda leader told The Daily Star yesterday, wishing not to be named.

Mannan Bhuiyan, who emerged as a pro-reform stalwart after the changeover of January 11 last year, came out on bail Wednesday. Talking to newsmen after release, he said there is no alternative to uniting the party to succeed in election.

Like him, BNP standing committee member M Shamsul Islam and Vice-president MK Anwar were also released last week on ad interim bail from the High Court.

Party sources said most of the senior leaders favour acting immediately to resolve the differences and have a united BNP. Even Khaleda Zia on several occasions has sent messages asking the party leaders to forge unity.

But Delwar remains opposed to sitting with Bhuiyan and the leaders who once initiated a campaign for intra-party reforms.

A number of BNP leaders hinted that the LGRD minister might be appointed a standing committee member on withdrawal of expulsion ordered by the chairperson just before her arrest last year.

If the move succeeds, it might also see Ashraf Hossain, another expelled leader who is now behind bars, reinstated in the party on release.

Delwar however remains adamant not to let the expulsion orders against the three be withdrawn before the release of party chairperson, said sources close to him.

He is also pursuing a strategy to weaken the dissident leaders’ base in their constituencies, they added.

He has already brought changes in the Sylhet BNP committees, mostly meaning exclusion of those loyal to Saifur Rahman, former finance minister who was made acting chairman by the standing committee on October 29 last year.

A new committee has been formed in Shibpur upazila of Narsinghdi, the constituency of Mannan Bhuiyan.

Lately, Delwar at a meeting with BNP leaders from Lalmohan upazila of Bhola suggested that they avoid Major (retd) Hafizuddin Ahmed, former lawmaker from the area and also acting secretary general appointed by the standing committee.

Besides, dictated by the secretary general, some district and upazila BNP committees including those in Sunamganj, Barisal (north), Rajbari and Sarsha upazila of Jessore have exempted several former lawmakers from duties for their role in favour of the pro-reform group.