Bangladesh Nationalist Party is facing trouble in strengthening relations with influential countries for two reasons — failure in giving assurance of good governance and intimacy with Jamaat-e-Islami as well as emergence of militancy during its tenure.
A BNP leader said foreign diplomats want to know that how BNP would reduce corruption and whether the party has adequate skilled manpower to ensure good governance.
BNP not yet could assure the West about the issues. On the other hand, to neighbouring India, BNP is an anti-Indian party. Intimacy with Jamaat and frequent anti-Indian statements of the party has affirmed this conception.
The BNP leader, who looks after party’s relations with foreign diplomats, said that BNP is trying to assure them that alliance with Jamaat-e-Islami is only for elections as there are big ideological differences between the two parties.
On this ground BNP kept silent after handing down of punishments on Jamaat leaders on charge of crimes against humanity. However, BNP cannot sever ties with Jamaat considering Jamaat’s role in field-level movement and calculation of voters.
Party sources also said the ‘look east policy’ adopted by the BNP government during 2001-2006 tenure also cast a negative image of BNP among the Western diplomats.
No BNP leader agreed to talk about the issue being named in the report.
Source: Prothom Alo
