The New Nation - Internet Edition

Staff Reporter

The long- awaited government sponsored dialogue with the BNP and Jamaat-e- Islami Bangladesh will take place today at the Chief Adviser's Office.

BNP would sit dialogue with the government at 11am while Jamaat at 3:00 pm.

Chief Adviser Dr Fakruddin Ahmed will lead the government side. Five Advisers Major General (Retd) Ghulam Quader, AF Hassan Ariff, Anwarul Iqbal, Iftekhar Ahmed Chowhury and Hossain Zillur Rahman will also be present in the dialogue.

BNP Secretary General Khondoker Delwar Hossain will lead the BNP delegation.

The dialogue had been originally scheduled for October 15 and brought forward by a day. The date for dialogue was reset in consultation with the BNP Chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia with the Commerce and Education Adviser Dr Hossain Zillur Rahman at her cantonment residence on Friday last.

Meanwhile, Commerce and Education Adviser Dr Hossain Zillur Rahman and Adviser for the ministries of LGRD and Cooperative Anwarul Iqbal yesterday told the media that they were hopeful over the success of the dialogue.

Expressing his optimism Dr Zillur said "Government would sit dialogue with BNP and Jamaat with an open minded as it did with other political parties,".

"I hope a positive and constructive dialogue which would lead to a consensus and help hold free and fair elections in the country,".

Anwarul Iqbal said government would not put any agenda while sitting dialogue with BNP and Jammat.

The Secretaries General of the four parties recently held a meeting at BNP Secretary General Khondoker Delwar Hossain's Nam flat and discussed the dialogue agenda.

Sources from BNP and Jamaat said they have already finalised the discussion points for dialogue with the government.

The discussions would mainly focus on some existing obstacles to holding a fair election, especially the issue of withdrawal of the state of emergency.

" BNP will sit with the government in the interest of holding free, fair and credible elections," Kondoker Delwar Hossain told the media at his NAM flat yesterday.

He said that during the dialogue with the government his party would raise five points of demand.

"BNP would repeat its demand for withdrawal of the state of emergency, scrapping the amended Representation of the People Order (RPO), and release of the party leaders in jail and withdrawal of cases against them," he added.

Asked whether if would be possible to hold election under the state of emergency, he said the lifting of emergency was necessary for a fair election.

Lifting state of emergency, some amendments to the RPO, withdrawal of all cases filed against party chairperson, leaders and activists and deferring the upazila polls are among the demands made by BNP.

It may be mentioned that the dialogue between the government and the political parties started on May 22. The government has already had meetings with 16 parties including the Awami League.

BNP at a meeting on October 9 has decided to sit with the caretaker government for special dialogue amid at to remove all hurdles facing the party as regards registration.

Earlier BNP has formed a special committee for dialogue with Chowdhury Tanvir Ahmed Siddiqui, Standing Committee Member, as convener of the committee.

The other members of the special committee are MK Anwar, Vice Chariman, Nazrul Islam Khan, Joint Secretary General, Abdul Mannan former lawmaker and Rizvi Ahmed, Office Secretary of BNP.