President Hamid reminisces about Parliament days with Khaleda and her team

Sunday’s Bangabhaban dialogue with BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia made President Md Abdul Hamid hark back to his days as Parliament speaker.

Their meeting was rather frequent when he was in the Sangsad Bhaban, Hamid recalled.

“Now I stay a bit removed. When I was in Parliament there were chances of meeting more frequently,” he said pointing out that as president, the scope of such meetings are limited.

The BNP chief met him after around three years. When they were exchanging pleasantries, the president inquired about Khaleda’s health, and in reply Khaleda said, "So so."

With his usual humour, the president addressed BNP leader Abdul Moyeen Khan as his grandson-in-law and inquired about his well-being. He also introduced Khan to Khaleda as his grandson-in-law.

A surprised Khaleda exclaimed, “Really?"

The BNP chief was at the Bangabhaban with 10 other senior leaders of the party to take part in the dialogue on the process of forming the next Election Commission as the tenure of the current EC expires in February.

Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, policymaking National Standing Committee members Khandker Mosharraf Hossain, Moudud Ahmed, Jamiruddin Sircar, Mahbubur Rahman, Rafiqul Islam Mia, Gayeshwar Chandra Roy, Abdul Moyeen Khan, Nazrul Islam Khan and Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury, accompanied her in the meeting.

The meeting started at 4:37pm and continued at a cordial atmosphere until 5:35, a Bangabhaban source said.

The delegation members were treated with fruit juice, fish finger, chicken pastries, chicken sandwich, cashew nuts, sweetmeats and tea.

The BNP delegation expressed optimism about constituting an effective EC after the dialogue with the president.

Khaleda was prime minister from 1991-96 and 2001-06.

During the Awami League tenures from 1996-2001 and 2009-14, she was the leader of the opposition in Parliament.

Hamid was made deputy speaker when the Awami League formed the government in 1996 and deputy leader of the opposition when BNP returned to power in 2001.

He was appointed speaker when the Awami League formed the government again in 2009. He became president on Apr 29, 2013 after the death of the then president Zillur Rahman.

Khaleda went to the Bangabhaban to meet Hamid on Nov 19, 2013 for the last time, leading a delegation of the 20-Party Alliance before the 10th parliamentary elections.

She had sought the president's intervention to hold talks with the government on holding the elections under a ‘neutral’ caretaker government.

The president kicked off the dialogue with the largest political party outside Parliament. The BNP has no representation in Parliament after the boycott of the 2014 elections.