BNP-led 18-Party Alliance emerges

Opposition leader Khaleda Zia announces the new alliance, drafting in 12 parties to the four-party coalition that her BNP heads

Dhaka, Apr 18 (bdnews24.com)–Opposition leader Khaleda Zia has announced the '18-Party Alliance', drafting in 12 parties to the four-party alliance that her BNP heads.

She declared the name of the new alliance at a press conference at Diploma Engineers' Institution at 4pm on Wednesday, about 13 years into the four-party alliance formation.

The new parties include Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), Kalyan Party, Jatiya Ganatantrik Party (JaGPa), National People's Party (NPP), Bangladesh Labour Party, National Democratic Party (NDP), Bangladesh NAP, Muslim League, Islamic Party, National Awami Party (NAP-Bhasani) and People's League.

The chiefs of the new parties and those of the existing ones were present at the function. The top leaders of the new parties signed the declaration of the '18-Party Alliance'.

At the Mar 12 rally in Dhaka, Khaleda had announced that the BNP-led four-party alliance would be expanded with the inclusion of the like-minded parties.

Earlier, Jamaat-e-Islami, Islami Oikya Jote, Bangladesh Jatiya Party (BJP), Jamiyate Ulamaye Islam and Khilafat Majlish were members of the BNP-led alliance.

The four-party alliance was formed in 1999 to strengthen the movement against the then Awami League-led government.

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