Deciding to join the parliament after rejecting the 11th Parliamentary Polls results has left the BNP into disarray. The senior party leaders are in quandary given the party General Secretary Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir decided not to take oath. They are saying that it’s only the acting Chairman Tarique Rahman who is aware why he chose not to be sworn in. Under the circumstances, the party top-brass is likely to remain in the dark until they meet next. Meanwhile all leaders of the party is eagerly waiting for the release of the incarcerated party chief Khaleda Zia.

It was learnt upon conversation with several BNP leaders that the overall control of the party including the decision making process is entirely at the helm of Tarique Rahman, who has been living in London on a self-imposed exile. Therefore, the leaders are clueless about the future political strategies of the party until its chairperson is freed from jail.

One of the members of BNP’s policymaking National Standing Committee, Jamiruddin Sircer told Bangla Tribune, “Mirza Fakhrul knows why he didn’t take oath. Besides, we are yet to sit for a meeting and I cannot say the party’s stance on the issue until we meet.”

According to a standing committee source, the party is likely to face two types of situations in the future with regards to taking any decision. If the party chief Khaleda Zia asks for opinions from the standing committee members, they will speak their mind freely. On the other hand, if the acting chief Tarique Rahman seeks opinion, the leaders are likely to pass ‘superficial opinion’ and let the acting chairman make the final call.

By-polls schedule soon, who will be BNP’s candidate?

Speaker Shirin Sharmin Chowdhury told the parliament on Tuesday (Apr 30) that, the constituency from where Mirza Fakhrul won the polls will be declared vacant if he doesn’t take oath within 90 days.

“The fact that Mirza Fakhrul didn’t take oath proves that there were issues to reach consensus on the matter. At the same time the prompt announcement on the Speaker’s part indicated the government’s hard-line in this regard,” one of the standing committee members said.

“Given the overall scenario, it may take some time before the whole thing is cleared up,” he added.

Election Commission (EC) Secretariat Secretary Helal Uddin told Bangla Tribune, “We will publish a gazette declaring the seat vacant within a couple of days and the by-polls will be held within 90 days after the gazette is issued.”

Responding to a query the EC Secretary said, “All candidates who took part in Dec 30 polls can participate in the by-polls alongside the new candidates.”

BNP Bogura district unit General Secretary Joynal Abedin Chan said, “We first have to decide whether the party will take part in the by-polls. The topic of who should get nomination comes after that.”

He also added that if he is asked he will decide after discussing with local party leaders and activists.

Bogura BNP sources say, Many will be interested to contest the by-polls should the BNP decides to take part in it. Such aspirants include BNP chief’s advisor AKM Mahbubur Rahman, former president of Bogura unit BNP Rezaul Karim Badshah and the current General Secretary Chan.

However, BNP lawmaker Harunur Rashid says otherwise.

“There’s no question of taking part in the by-polls. If there were any such chances then Mirza Fakhrul would have taken oath,” he said.

Discussion on reserved seat candidates

According to the seat sharing equation, BNP and the Jatiya Oikya Front candidates get one reserved seat at the parliament. On one hand, there is some interest inside BNP while some allies of the Oikya Front want to float candidates for that reserved seat.

BNP Vice Chairman Selima Rahman, Organizational Secretary Shama Obaed, International Affairs Secretary Rumin Farhana and Syeda Asifa Ashrafi Papia’s names were among the few who might be interested for the women’s seat.

Among the Oikya Front allies one leader mentioned the name of JSD leader Tania Rob in this regard.

According to a credible BNP source, the issue of by-polls and reserved women’s seat will not even be floated in any meeting until the issue of Khaleda Zia’s release is finalised.

“At this moment our priority is the release of Madam Khaleda Zia,” BNP’s Organizational Secretary Dr Sakhawat Hasan Jibon told Bangla Tribune.

“We will decide about party strategies afterwards,” he added.