4-party sits today to talk dialogue

Key leaders of the BNP-led four-party alliance will sit today to fix a possible date for holding dialogue with the caretaker government and the Election Commission (EC).
BNP leaders said the issue of holding dialogue with the Election Commission (EC) and the caretaker government would be at the top of the agenda at the meeting to be held for the first time since the imposition of the state of emergency.
The meeting will finalise the strategies to run political activities ahead of the national polls and discuss issues including election preparations and latest political situation.
The meeting will be held at the BNP central office at Naya Paltan in the capital at 3:00pm with just-released BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia in the chair, party leaders said.
“The meeting will discuss the latest political development and activities of the four-party alliance," BNP Office Secretary Rizvi Ahmed told reporters.
He hoped that top leaders of the alliance would attend the meeting as BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia has been released.
Andaleeve Rahman Partho, the chairman of Bangladesh Jatiya Party (BJP), a component of the four-party alliance, said they were eagerly waiting to meet BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia.
Various political issues will be discussed at the meeting, he said.
"I hope the four-party alliance will get important directions from this meeting," he told The Daily Star last night.
Earlier, senior leaders of the four-party alliance at a meeting decided not to participate in any dialogue with the EC and government without BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia. BNP and Jamaat refrained from joining electoral dialogue with EC following the decision.
However, both the parties participated in pre-dialogue talks with the government at the state guesthouse Padma.
Following a BNP standing committee meeting on Saturday, BNP Secretary General Khandaker Delwar Hossain said they would soon sit with the government. The possible date for holding the dialogue would be fixed after a meeting between BNP and other components of the coalition, he added.
BNP yesterday told the EC in a letter that they are now ready to hold dialogue with the commission.