Tarique to act as party chairman

Bangladesh Nationalist Party’s (BNP) exiled senior vice chairman Tarique Rahman has been at the helm of the party in absence of the party chairperson and his mother Khaleda Zia.

Former prime minister Khaleda was sent to jail after a makeshift court sentenced her to five years of imprisonment in a graft case on Thursday.

In a press statement sent to the media on Thursday night, BNP’s senior joint secretary general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi described Tarique Rahman as the party’s acting chairman and sent a statement of him.

When contacted, the BNP senior joint secretary general referred to a remark of BNP secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir that the party will be run as per its constitution and said the party constitution stipulates that party’s senior vice chairman will act as the chairman in absence of the regular chairman of the party.

While talking to newsmen earlier in the day, BNP standing committee member Nazrul Islam Khan said Tarique Rahman has automatically become the party's acting chairman as per the constitution.

Tarique Rahman has been staying in London ever since he left the country in 2008 shortly after he was freed from the jail during the military-controlled emergency government.

It is to be noted that Tarique’s statement cannot be published in the media as the High Court in January of 2015 slapped a ban on publishing, broadcasting or reproducing speeches and statements of Tarique Rahman in print, electronic and social media as long as he remains absconding.