BNP acting Chairman Tarique Rahman is set to hold a formal meeting with Chief Adviser Dr Muhammad Yunus, who is currently visiting the United Kingdom, on June 13 (Friday) in London.
“Our acting Chairman has been formally invited to a meeting on June 13 from 9am to 11am London time,” said BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir.
Talking to reporters at the BNP Chairperson’s Gulshan office, he said the meeting will take place at the hotel where the Chief Adviser is currently staying in London.
Fakhrul, however, mentioned that there is no specific agenda for the meeting.
Despite being physically unwell, he said, Tarique had convened a meeting with the party’s Standing Committee members on Monday night to discuss the upcoming meeting.
“Our standing committee meeting welcomed the initiative. We hope this meeting will play a positive role in resolving the challenges facing the political landscape of Bangladesh,” the BNP leader said.
In the context of recent political developments, he said this meeting could prove to be a major turning point if all goes as planned.
“This meeting is the most significant event at present and holds great importance both nationally and internationally. Many issues could be resolved through this meeting, and new dimensions may emerge,” Fakhrul said.
He also said the meeting holds immense potential though it ultimately depends on how the Chief Adviser and the BNP acting chairman choose to advance those possibilities.
On behalf of the BNP, Fakhrul said full authority has been given to Tarique to make decisions during the meeting.
Fakhrul urges interim govt to rethink about April election timing
He said the BNP standing committee also wished for the success of the meeting between the Chief Adviser and Tarique.
“The current interim government's chief advisor Professor Muhammad Yunus will meet our acting chairman, who has been running the party for so long, who has been a major focal point in politics in Bangladesh and has also played a major role in the student uprising... I consider the chief advisor's meeting with him a major event... It's a major political event,” Fakhrul said.
Since the announcement of Prof Yunus’ visit to the United Kingdom, there has been much political speculation about the possibility of a meeting between him and Tarique.
The meeting was, however, not included in the official itinerary of the Chief Adviser.
In response to a journalist’s question on June 4, Foreign Secretary Ruhul Alam Siddique said he had no information about any meeting between the Chief Adviser and Tarique Rahman.
The Chief Adviser left Dhaka for the UK on Monday evening for a four-day official visit.
Tarique is going to hold a meeting with Chief Adviser Yunus at a time when there is significant disagreement between his party and the interim government over the timing of the next election.
In an address to the nation on the eve of Eid al-Azha, Prof Yunus announced that the election would be held in early April next year.
This announcement has disappointed the BNP, which has been demanding elections by December. The party argues that there is no justification for delaying the election until April.
Under the leadership of Prof Yunus, the National Consensus Commission has been working to build a consensus among political parties on necessary reforms. But the BNP disagrees with several of the commission’s reform proposals.
The BNP maintains that constitutional reforms should only be undertaken by an elected government within parliament — not by an interim administration. On the other hand, the NCP, formed by student leaders of the mass uprising, and some other Islamic parties, including Jamaat-e-Islami support implementing key reforms before the election.