BNP to send delegation to AL council

The BNP is likely to take part in the Awami League's national council today and would call upon the ruling party to “restore democracy” in the country.

“A BNP delegation is scheduled to join the opening ceremony of the council,” BNP Joint Secretary General Moazzem Hossain Alal told The Daily Star last evening.

He, however, refused to disclose the names of the delegation members.

“In the council, we would remind the Awami League that it had a long tradition of waging movements and working for democracy since the period of undivided Pakistan. The party also had a culture of showing tolerance to its opponents,” said Alal.

“We would also convey the BNP chairperson's message to the Awami League that it was walking in the opposite direction on democracy and tolerance. We would call upon the Awami League to return to the path of democracy,” he added.

In 2009, a BNP delegation, led by then organising secretary Fazlul Haq Milon, had taken part in the AL's national council while an AL delegation, led by Ashim Kumar Ukil, joined the BNP's council.

But no BNP leader attended the AL's council in 2012, said party sources.

BNP insiders said some senior party leaders on Thursday night discussed at the BNP chief Khaleda Zia's Gulshan office whether they should join the AL council.

Most of the leaders were of the opinion that the party should join the programme in a show of tolerance and moderate political culture. Moreover, this would help close the gap between the two archrivals.

However, a few leaders argued that the ruling party didn't attend the BNP's national council on March 19. Moreover, the government had created obstacles to holding the council.

Speaking at a programme at the Jatiya Press Club yesterday, Moazzem Hossain Alal said: “You [AL] didn't join our council. You didn't even say sorry over the phone. But ours is not a narrow-minded party like yours and you will have the proof that the BNP is a moderate and democratic political party.”

Earlier on Thursday, an AL delegation invited BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia and Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir to its two-day 20th national council.

“We are happy that they invited us. We too had invited them to our council, but they didn't come. We will decide on attending the council after discussing the issue in the party forum,” Fakhrul told journalists.