After her meeting with visiting UN Assistant Secretary General Oscar Fernández Taranco, BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia in an emergency meeting with her party’s senior leaders on Monday night discussed the country’s latest situation and the UN initiative for resolving the current crisis.
The hour-long meeting that began at about 7:40pm was held at the BNP chairperson’s Gulshan residence.
Talking to reporters about the meeting, BNP standing committee member Nazrul Islam Khan told reporters that they discussed the country’s overall situation and their ongoing action programmes, but he declined to give further details.
Another standing committee member Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain said, “Our ongoing movement for arranging the general election under a non-party government will continue. Nothing can be said now about the opposition leader’s meeting with the UN envoy.”
BNP acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir who appeared in public after a 10-day hideout and attended the meeting said the process of discussion with UN emissary is still on.
“The discussion is not over yet. After the discussion, we’ll come up with our party’s version about it.”
Replying to a question whether their discussions with the UN envoy fruitful, Fakhrul said Taranco will brief about it when the discussion will be over.
Asked why he went into hiding, the BNP leader parried the question.
Soon after Taranco had left Khaleda’s residence, senior BNP leaders entered it and sat in the meeting.
BNP standing committee member and Dr Moyeen Khan, BNP chairperson’s advisers Osman Faruk, Reaz Rahman and Sabihuddin Ahmad and BNP vice-chairman Shamsher Mobin Chowdhury were, among others, present in the meeting.
Party sources said Khaleda conveyed the outcomes of the meeting with the UN envoy to her party leaders as well as finalised the opposition’s next course of action and stance on the election.
Earlier at 6pm, Oscar Fernández Taranco sat in one-hour meeting with BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia and discussed various issues relating to the next general election.
Earlier, on December 7, Taranco had another meeting with the opposition leader at her Gulshan residence.
Taranco arrived here on Friday aiming to encourage the bickering political parties to peacefully resolve the ongoing political standoff over the composition of election-time cabinet.
Meanwhile, the UN envoy had a series of meetings with Awami League and BNP leaders apart from the ones with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and opposition leader Khaleda Zia and the Chief Election Commissioner in the last three days.
Source: UNB Connect
