THE BNP's demand for withdrawal of the Representation of the People Order (Amendment) 2008, and its apparent backpedaling on its position on the next general election, has come as a shock to us. The initial signs and signals, particularly after Begum Khaleda Zia's release, appeared to be rather positive as the party looked settled, though not without some visible quirks, on the course that all other political parties have agreed toa return to democratic order by the year-end. But the BNP's latest stance is intransigent and obstructive enough, putting a spanner in the works.

The point that is very relevant here is that the BNP never had a very negative position, or that is the impression we got, on the RPO and registration of political parties. It is the BNP's closest ally, the Jamaat, which must have found the goings-on rather difficult, because of its constitution being at variance with that of the country which gives equal rights to the followers of all religions without any discrimination.

So, the BNP's rejection of the RPO or party registration will serve the Jamaat more than the BNP itself. It is not clear why a major party like the BNP is following the Jamaat's game plan which is not endorsed by the vast majority of people. The Jamaat was known to be an adjunct to the BNP as it needed a powerful political ally to drive home its agenda. But now it seems that there has been a role reversal with the BNP itself, for no good reason, though, emerging as a follower of Jamaat! The BNP is acting like a custodian of the Jamaat's interests which only points to the party's drifting away from its original position. Why this pandering to Jamaat's political needs?

Some recent developments might have been indicative of the stand that the BNP leadership would ultimately take. When BNP leader MK Anwar met with the CEC, he definitely sounded positive in his comments. But this was dismissed as his personal opinion by the party's secretary general. The truth of the matter is that “personal opinion' doesn't have a place in BNP's political culture and, as such, he must have acted with the party's consent. Moreover, MK Anwar was accompanied by two front-ranking leaders when he met with the CEC which indicated that he was indeed speaking on behalf of the party leadership.

So, the major shift of the BNP from what appeared to be a policy of integration with the mainstream, albeit with tough bargaining, is rather inexplicable. The party seems to be getting dangerously close to the precipice of political gamesmanship, which might derail the progress towards restoration of democracy and may trigger a major political crisis.

When the entire nation is looking forward to the end of the transition period and an early return to democracy, the outlandish demand for scrapping of the RPO is totally unacceptable. The BNP leadership should be able to foresee what their move could lead to.