Dr Kamal to lead 11 Oikya Front leaders to fresh talks with Hasina

Dr Kamal Hossain is heading a team of 11 Jatiya Oikya Front leaders to the second round of dialogue with Awami League chief Sheikh Hasina.

The talks will be held at the Ganabhaban from 11am on Wednesday.  

After a meeting of the Oikya Front’s Steering Committee at Dr Kamal’s chamber in Motijheel on Tuesday night, BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir told the media that the list had been sent to Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader.

“Tomorrow’s talks will be held on a limited scale,” the BNP leader reiterated.

Besides Dr Kamal and Mirza Fakhrul, the Oikya Front leaders on the list for the talks are Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal-JSD President ASM Abdur Rab and General Secretary Abdul Malek Ratan, BNP Standing Committee members Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain and Moudud Ahmed, Gono Forum General Secretary Mostafa Mohsin Montu and Executive President Subrata Chowdhury, Nagorik Oikya Convenor Mahmudur Rahman Manna and Coordinator SM Akram, and the Jatiya Oikya Prokriya’s Sultan Mohammad Mansur Ahmed.

Hasina opened the series of pre-election dialogues through a meeting with the Oikya Front on its seven demands to make the general election free and fair a week ago.

The Oikya Front’s demands include the release of jailed BNP chief Khaleda Zia, election under a nonpartisan government dissolving parliament, deployment of the army with magistracy powers during the polls and no use of electronic voting machines or EVMs.

It sought another brief meeting with Hasina as its leaders expressed frustration for finding “no specific solution” to the issues they had raised in the first round of talks.

The Oikya Front also demanded the Election Commission postpone the announcement of the election roadmap until the politicians reach a consensus.

The commission earlier said it will announce the schedule on Thursday and on Tuesday, it added that there was no scope of deferring the schedule.