BNP yet to decide over president's removal

The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) did not reach a final decision in its meeting with leaders of the anti-discrimination student movement and the Jatiya Nagorik Committee regarding the removal of Muhammed Sahabuddin from the presidency. The party plans to discuss the decision within its internal forum.

Leaders from the anti-discrimination student movement and the Jatiya Nagorik Committee met with BNP secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir at the BNP chairperson's office in Gulshan on Saturday evening. The meeting, which lasted about two hours, also included standing committee member Salahuddin Ahmad and joint general secretary Shahid Uddin Chowdhury (Anee).

Eight representatives from the Jatiya Nagorik Committee and the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement participated in the discussions with BNP leaders.

They included the Jatiya Nagorik Committee convener Nasiruddin Patowari, member secretary Akhtar Hossain, spokesperson Samanta Sharmin, member Ariful Islam, convener of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement Hasnat Abdullah, member secretary Arif Sohail, chief organizer Abdul Hannan, and spokesperson Umama Fatema.

On Saturday night, Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir told Prothom Alo that they listened to the statements of the leaders of the anti-discrimination student movement and the Jatiya Nagorik Committee during the meeting, but no decision was made. The party's standing committee meeting will be held in the next couple of days, where the issue will be discussed.

After the meeting, Hasnat Abdullah, the convener of the anti-discrimination student movement, said, "In today’s meeting, the BNP leaders listened to us. They mentioned that they would discuss this matter within their forum and provide a decision. Our conversation was conducted in a very cordial manner. Hopefully, they will clarify their stance."

The Anti-Discrimination Student Movement and the Jatiya Nagorik Committee held two rounds of meetings with BNP leaders over the last two days as part of their efforts to build consensus for the removal of Sahabuddin from the presidency.

On Thursday night, the leaders of the two organizations met at the residence of BNP standing committee member Salahuddin Ahmed, with the presence of Ruhul Kabir Rizvi, the party’s senior joint secretary general.

Following that meeting, the leaders met with BNP secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir yesterday. They also held discussions with leaders of the Islami Andolan Bangladesh on the same day.

Earlier, they had met with Jamaat-e-Islami leaders last Friday. Both Jamaat and Islami Andolan in principle expressed their support for their demand to remove Sahabuddin as president, but the BNP has been hesitant to announce a decision.

On 23 October, three senior BNP leaders, including Salahuddin Ahmed, met with the chief adviser and alerted against creating any constitutional crisis following the demands from the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement and the Jatiya Nagorik Committee for the president's removal. The party believes that if a vacuum is created in the presidency, it could lead to a constitutional and political crisis, which the BNP wishes to avoid.

Nasiruddin Patowari and Hasnat Abdullah spoke to reporters after their talks with the BNP yesterday. Hasnat Abdullah remarked that the president is a significant obstacle to completely abolishing the fascist system. He noted that they have been engaging with various political parties over the past two days to discuss the president's removal and new political arrangements.

Hasnat Abdullah stated, "Three issues were discussed in the meeting with the BNP. First, I addressed how to announce the Proclamation of the Second Republic. Second, I discussed building political consensus and avoiding a crisis to remove Chuppu (President Md Sahabuddin's nickname) as soon as possible. Third, we talked about how to ensure the continuity of government functioning while maintaining national unity."