The New Nation - Internet Edition

Staff Reporter

Five standing committee members of the BNP yesterday sent a letter to the Election Commission saying that Khondoker Delwar Hossain be invited for the dialogue on electoral reform as party secretary general.

A four-member delegation of the pro-Khaleda BNP faction led by joint secretaries general Nazrul Islam Khan and Goyeshwar Chandra Roy called on Chief Election Commissioner Dr ATM Shamsul Huda and handed over the letter to him.

Election Commissioners-Muhammed Sohul Hussain and Brig Gen (Retd) M Sakhawat Hussain were also present during the meeting.

The letter, signed by standing committee members-Dr RA Gani, Abdul Matin Chowdhury, Chowdhury Tanveer Ahmed Siddiqui, Advocate Khandaker Mahbub Uddin Ahmad and M Shamsul Islam, clears that of the 12 standing committee members of the BNP, three are now in jail and six out of eight are with the Pro-Khaleda faction of the party.

The letter claimed that the appointment of the party's former vice president Hafizuddin Ahmed as acting secretary general in the controversial standing committee meeting of October 29 last year was against the party constitution.

The CEC has been requested not to take the decision of that meeting into cognisance and send any letter to Khandaker Delwar.

The letter also mentioned that the decision of the party Chairperson after her arrest on Sept 2 to expel Mannan Bhuiyan from the post of secretary general and cancel his primary membership of the party was constitutional.

Briefing journalists Nazrul Islam Khan said the letter said Khondoker Delwar Hossain who was appointed by party Chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia is the legal secretary general of the party and the Commission should take its decision in line with the matter.

He warned that if Khondoker Delwar was not issued the invitation letter for the dialogue as the party's secretary general the responsibility for a divided BNP would fall on the Commission.

"We have requested the Chief Election Commissioner to invite Khondoker Delwar to the dialogue. He is the legal secretary general of the party. There is no other secretary general except him," the BNP leader said.

He hoped that the Commission would not take any final decision without discussions involving the BNP.

Nazrul Islam Khan, however, said that the delegation told the CEC, who asked them to be united that they want to be united.

"But letters have to be sent to the legal secretary general Khondoker Delwar Hossain and all contacts made with him since the party is yet to be united," he observed.

Replying to a question, he said if BNP was invited by the government it would certainly participate in the pre-dialogue informal talks.