All parties little embarrassed for govt's joint press conference with BNP: Jamaat

Jamaat-e-Islami welcomes the meeting between BNP acting chairman Tarique Rahman and chief adviser Dr Muhammad Yunus during the later's visit to London.

However, the interim government lost neutrality with the subsequent joint press conference.

Jamaat’s central nayeb-e-ameer Syed Abdullah Moihammad Taher said, “The government's joint statement with a political party is a very rare incident in the history of the country. All the remaining parties of the country are a bit embarrassed with the event. Our main objection was there.”

Syed Abdullah Mohammad Taher made the remarks today, Wednesday, during a break in the third meeting of the second phase of talks between the National Consensus Commission and political parties.

He made these remarks as the reason for Jamaat-e-Islami not participating in the second meeting of the second phase with the National Consensus Commission.

Syed Abdullah Mohammad Taher also said that the government won't be able to make progress much if it loses neutrality.

He said, “The chief adviser spoke to the Jamaat ameer Tuesday noon. We believe the chief adviser tried to realise our stance. We do not want to make this government a failure. We want to help them.”

Regarding Wednesday’s discussion, Syed Abdullah Mohammad Taher said that Jamaat-e-Islami supports the formation of the National Constitutional Council (NCC), as it would help ensure a balance of power. However, he also mentioned that the party has differing views on the structure and scope of the NCC.

Jamaat-e-Islami does not want to include the president and the chief justice in the NCC. Syed Abdullah Muhammad Taher said Jamaat-e-Islami also does not support the idea of including the appointment of the three service chiefs in this committee. However, the matter requires further discussion.

Earlier, on 13 June, chief adviser Dr. Muhammad Yunus held a meeting with BNP acting chairman Tarique Rahman in London. The joint statement after the meeting mentioned holding the election in February, that is, the week before the upcoming Ramadan begins.

Representatives of the interim government and BNP also attended the joint briefing after the meeting between Professor Muhammad Yunus and Tarique Rahman.

A day after the London meeting, it was said in a meeting of the central executive committee of Jamaat that holding a joint press conference abroad and issuing a joint statement on the meeting with a political party is ethically unacceptable; issuing such a joint statement goes against the country’s political culture.

Through this, the chief advisor has shown special favour toward one party, which has undermined his impartiality.

A source in the national consensus commission said that Jamaat-e-Islami had informed them it would not attend yesterday’s meeting. The party cited as its reason that it felt “ignored” in the joint statement issued after the meeting between the chief adviser and BNP’s acting chairman Tarique Rahman during the former’s recent visit to London. As a mark of protest, Jamaat decided not to join yesterday’s discussions.

However, chief adviser’s press secretary Shafiqul Alam  said after the meeting, “We have spoken to Jamaat-e-Islami. We believe they will join tomorrow’s discussions.”