Oikya Front tightlipped about prime minister pick if it wins election

The Jatiya Oikya Front has grappled with the question once again at an interaction with the editors – who will be its prime minister pick if the coalition wins the general election?

Seeking to defeat Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the election, the alliance has remained coy about naming anyone as the prime ministerial candidate.

He did not get an answer after posing the question in the two-hour meeting at a Dhaka hotel on Friday, bdnews24.com Editor-in-Chief Toufique Imrose Khalidi told reporters.

The politicians and the journalists discussed the election atmosphere, the government’s role, expectation from the opposition parties and different other issues related to the parliamentary elections slated for Dec 30.

The Oikya Front sought the media’s cooperation for free and fair polls, the alliance led by Gono Forum chief Dr Kamal Hossain said.

He formed the coalition with the BNP, the Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal-JSD of ASM Abdur Rab, the Nagorik Oikya of Mahmudur Rahman Manna, and Jatiya Oikya Prokriya of Sultan Mohammad Mansur Ahmed on Oct 13. Abdul Kader Siddique’s Krishak Sramik Janata League joined in later.

The bloc’s demands had initially included release of BNP chief Khaleda Zia from jail before holding the election with a nonpartisan government in power.

The Oikya Front eventually decided to join the polls “as part of movement” after two rounds of talks with ruling Awami League chief Hasina yielded no solution to the issues raised by the alliance.

Its leaders also sat with the Election Commission demanding the election be pushed back once again, but the commission ruled it out having deferred it once by a week.

The BNP and others in the alliance say they believe the people will reject the Awami League and vote the Oikya Front to a landslide if free and fair polls are held.

Jatiya Oikya Front leaders meeting editors at a Dhaka hotel on Friday to exchange views on the upcoming election.

The ruling party has lashed out at Dr Kamal for joining hands with the “killers and corrupt”.

Its Secretary General Obaidul Quader on Wednesday raised the question on the potential prime minister in the event of an Oikya Front victory referring to the jailing of Khaleda and the exile of her son and acting BNP chief Tarique Rahman.

“I want to know about it, so do the people of the country. Tell us who the prime minister will be. Dr Kamal Hossain or Tarique Rahman? Who? Who is their PM candidate?” he asked.

BNP leaders have collected the party’s nomination forms for Khaleda for three constituencies.

But as she has been sentenced to a total of 17 years in jail for corruption in Zia Orphanage Trust and Zia Charitable Trust, there is confusion over Khaleda’s chances of being allowed to stand for the election.

Tarique, who left the country a decade ago, is also sentenced to 17 years in prison for corruption in two cases and to life for the deadly Aug 21, 2004 grenade attack on an Awami League rally targeting Hasina.

BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir and the members of its policymaking body National Standing Committee are running the party. They forged the alliance with Dr Kamal and his cohorts to get the government to sit for talks over their demands.

The Oikya Front officially calls Dr Kamal its chief. He attends the alliance’s programmes as chief guest while Mirza Fakhrul remains the main speaker.

In response to the Awami League’s criticism, Dr Kamal earlier said he had no appetite to contest in the election or hold any state office.

And there is no sign yet of Tarique returning to Bangladesh anytime soon.

The leaders of the alliance are yet to finalise which party will get how many constituencies.

Now the question of the next head of government in case of the Oikya Front’s victory is frequently coming to the fore.

“It’s a very important question in the election of a parliamentary democracy,” Toufique Khalidi told the media after the meeting with the Oikya Front leaders, referring to elections in other democracies such as the UK and India.

“But the Front hasn’t cleared the issue yet,” he said.

The Oikya Front leaders said they took notes of the points raised by the editors and would address them later, according to the editors.

Besides Khalidi, Prothom Alo Editor Matiur Rahman, Sayed Kamaluddin of the weekly Holiday, daily Amader Notun Somoy Editor Nayeemul Islam Khan, journalist Reazuddin Ahmed, daily Manabzamin Chief Editor Matiur Rahman Chowdhury, New Age Editor Nurul Kabir, Dhaka Tribune Editor Zafar Sobhan, and Dinkal Editor Rezwan Siddiqui attended the meeting.    

Senior journalists, including some of the foreign media, were also present.

The Oikya Front leaders included senior BNP leaders Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain, Moudud Ahmed and Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury, Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal-JSD President ASM Abdur Rab, Nagorik Oikya Convenor Mahmudur Rahman Manna, and Jatiya Oikya Prokriya’s Sultan Mohammad Mansur Ahmed.