Not only some top leaders but also mid-level leaders of the BNP are becoming unhappy with their party chief Begum Khaleda Zia, as they think that they are not evaluated properly.
Khaleda Zia, they said, now relies on a section of her staff, including some retired civil and military bureaucrats, instead of party leaders. “She does not evaluate us, as she does not call meetings of party’s different forums, including national executive committee (NEC), regularly. The NEC and other forums exist only in name, as Khaleda Zia takes party decision without proper consultation with the party leaders,” said a mid-level leader.
The last meeting of the NEC was held on April 8, 2012. Over 26 months have already passed since then, but the party has not taken step to hold any other meeting of the NEC, the highest forum of the party. After formation of the NEC in December 2009, the first meeting of the committee was held in December 2010, while the second meeting was held on April 23, 2011 and the third meeting was held on April 8, 2012.
A BNP leader, seeking anonymity, said that the meeting of the party’s important forum is not held due to lack of interest of the BNP chief. BNP joint secretary general Mohammad Shahjahan, however, said that the party can’t hold the meeting of the executive committee for various reasons, including hostile political situation of the country.
BNP has also failed to hold its sixth national council in time although the tenure of the present committee expired on December 8 in 2012- as per the party’s constitution. The BNP held its last and fifth national council on December 8 in 2009 and elected its national executive committee for a three-year term. As per the Representation of the People Order (RPO), the political parties need to hold council sessions regularly after expiry of the term of their executive committees.
BNP said they sought extension of time from the Election Commission for holding the council. The party claimed that they wanted to hold an extended meeting of the national executive committee in December, 2012 to set a date for the party’s next national council, but it failed to do so due to arrest of many party leaders, including its acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir. Mohammad Shahjahan said that the party tried to hold the sixth council last year but could not do it for various reasons. He declined to make any comment when asked why the party was not taking initiative now to hold the party council. The party policy makers decided to hold the council last March for bringing a change in the leadership but failed due to unexplained reasons. A senior leader of the party said the party acknowledges the importance of new leadership. There may be changes in some positions in the national executive committee and the standing committee after the sixth national council, he added.
