BNP MPs meet president, seek help to ‘free’ Khaleda
BNP lawmakers today sought the president’s cooperation so that party Chairperson Khaleda Zia can move freely and continue her political activities.
Headed by Opposition Chief Whip Zainul Abdin Farroque, a nine-member delegation of BNP Parliamentary Party made the request in a meeting with him at Bangabhaban this afternoon.
In reply, President Abdul Hamid assured the BNP leaders that he would convey their message to the government.
“With this assurance, we will call on the opposition leader (Khaleda) soon,” Farroque told reporters emerging from the 40-minute meeting.
He said they also urged him so that the fundamental rights of citizens are ensured.
The BNP leader said they had informed the president that Khaleda could not go to her political office and party leaders could not meet with her.
The government has kept the BNP chief confined to her Gulshan residence illegally, alleged Farroque.
The nine-member delegation of the BNP Parliamentary Party entered the Bangabhaban, the office-cum-residence of the present, around 4:00pm.
Earlier yesterday, a team of eight BNP deputies met Speaker Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury on the same issue and submitted a memorandum, seeking her intervention.
During the meeting, the Speaker assured the opposition delegation of taking steps in this regard.
BNP leaders claimed that Khaleda remained cordoned off to her house since Thursday evening after declaring the 'March for Democracy' programme.
Top BNP leaders are not being allowed to meet the opposition chief, who has been barred even from going to the party's Nayapaltan office, they insisted.
On December 29, the main opposition party called a nonstop blockade of rail, roads and waterways from the first day of the new year to resist what it called the one-sided January 5 election.
On the other side, ruling Awami League insisted that the parliamentary polls must be held on January 5, and then it could sit with the BNP to decide on the next course of action, deepening the political impasses.
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