BNP held two separate meetings on Friday with the leaders of Jamiat Ulema-e Islam and the 12-party alliance to discuss the country’s current political situation and their future course of action to force the government to arrange the next election promptly, by implementing the necessary reforms.
A 10-member delegation from Jamiat Ulama-e Islam met BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir and Standing Committee member Nazrul Islam Khan at around 6:30pm at the BNP Chairperson’s Gulshan office.
Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Nazrul Islam Khan said they discussed the current socio-economic situation of the country and reached an agreement on several key issues. “There is no reason for disagreement among patriotic and democratic political parties when it comes to the welfare of the country.”
He said that Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam is BNP’s a long-standing alliance partner, which joined the simultaneous movement against the Awami fascist regime.
Nazrul said the goal of their movement was to ensure the end of fascism and the re-establish democracy. “Fascism has fallen, but we have yet to restore democracy.”
He expressed hope that democracy would be restored in the country through a free, fair, and inclusive election.
The BNP leader said the government must arrange the national election by implementing the necessary reforms. “We believe these reforms can be completed in a short amount of time.”
Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Secretary General Monjurul Islam Afendi said they discussed the urgent need for election, measures to control the rising prices of essential goods, and steps to improve the current law and order situation.
He also said they reached a consensus to ensure no laws contrary to the Quran and Sunnah would be enacted if the BNP comes to power in the future.
Earlier, Nazrul Islam Khan held a meeting with the senior leaders of the 12-Party Alliance at the same venue.
However, there was no briefing about the outcome of the meeting from either side.
Contacted, 12-party coordinator Shahadat Hossain Selim told UNB that they discussed various issues, including arranging the election promptly, exerting pressure on the government to achieve this, and maintaining control over commodity prices and law and order during Ramadan.
He said the BNP aims to expand its alliance by involving other democratic, left-wing, and Islamic parties. “We have taken this positively and offered some suggestions in this regard.”
In response to a question, Selim said they had not finalised any action programme to take to the streets to pressure the government for an early election. “We discussed the future course of actions, but BNP will make the final decision in discussions with other parties.”
He said BNP will hold meetings with other democratic parties that participated in the simultaneous movement with them, as well as those willing to join its alliance.
Selim said they may observe various programmes simultaneously with BNP and independently, raising their voices to alleviate public suffering and press for the next election to be arranged after completing reforms, in discussions with political parties.