Khaleda-Hamid 'meeting' Tuesday

Leader of the Opposition Khaleda Zia will meet President Md Abdul Hamid on Tuesday, a day after an 'all-party' cabinet formed to oversee the 10th parliamentary election took oath.

Senior Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 18 Nov 2013, 12:54 PM
Updated : 18 Nov 2013, 06:31 PM

Her meeting with the President will take place after the government went ahead with the all-party interim government formation ignoring the Opposition's long-time demand for a non-party polls-time government.

Shortly after the interim cabinet headed by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was sworn in on Monday afternoon amid rejection from the main opposition, Khaleda requested the President for an appointment.

BNP's Vice-Chairman Shamser Mobin Chowdhury had confirmed bdnews24.com of the appointment.

"The Opposition Leader sought time from the Honourable President. I had spoken to Bangabhaban officials in the afternoon about this."

The President will meet the BNP Chairperson on Tuesday evening, Chowdhury added.

Khaleda later at night met party leaders at her Gulshan office after the meeting with the President was confirmed.

Acting Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain, Mahbubur Rahman, Gayeshwar Chandra Roy, Abdullah Al Noman, Shamser Mobin Chowdhury, Mahmudul Hasan, Abdul Mannan, Amanullah Aman, Barkatullah Bulu, Salahuddin Ahmed, Fazlul Haque Milon and Opposition Chief Whip Zainul Abdin Farroque were present at the meeting.

Fakhrul later told reporters that the BNP chief would lead a 20-strong delegation of the 18-Party alliance on Tuesday.

"The Opposition Leader will meet the President to discuss ways to end the ongoing crisis," he said.

Opposition coalition leaders Liberal Democratic Party President Oli Ahmed, Bangladesh Jatiya Party Chairman Andaleeve Rahman Partho and Kalyan Party Chairman Syed Md Ibrahim had also later met Khaleda.

It will be Khaleda's first meeting with President Hamid since he took over earlier this year.

BNP leaders had earlier said that she would discuss the present political situation with the President.

The main opposition and its allies have been on the streets demanding a non-party government to oversee the 10th parliamentary election. The Opposition has also threatened to boycott the polls otherwise.

Khaleda on Monday sought the appointment immediately after the President had sworn in eight new members in the all-party cabinet headed by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the afternoon.

Five of the eight new ministers are from the Jatiya Party, two from the Awami League and one from the Workers Party.

The BNP had rejected Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's earlier call to join the interim cabinet and had dubbed it a 'farce'.

Earlier, amid conflicting stands of the two major political alliances - Awami League-led Grand Alliance and BNP-led 18-Party alliance over the form of the poll-time dispensation, several BNP leaders had urged the President to take initiative to end the ongoing political impasse.