Dhaka, Oct 16 – Two political parties in the fold of BNP-led 20-party alliance on Tuesday severed their relations with the alliance accusing the BNP of maintaining relations what they said with the masterminds of the 1/11 changeover. Leaders of Bangladesh National Awami Party (NAP) and National Democratic Party (NDP) made the announcement at a press conference in the city only three days after BNP’s joining new alliance Jatiya Jukta Front.
With this, the BNP-led alliance faced split in the alliance for the second time. Earlier in 2014, National Peoples Party and another faction of NDP snapped relation with the alliance.
Bangladesh-NAP is a registered political party but the NDP is not registered with the Election Commission.
Speaking at the press conference at a community centre in Gulshan in the afternoon, NAP president Jebel Rahman Gani said those who are acting key role in the formation of Jatiya Oikya Front were the masterminds of 1/11 changeover in 2007 and implementing minus two formula.
He said they snapped all relations with the BNP led alliance accusing the BNP of undermining the parties and moving from its moral grounds.
“We have become scared seeing actors behind January 11, 2007 changeover beside the BNP leaders… Are we going to be a part of a conspiracy to bring an undemocratic evil force to power just for assuming office?’ he said in a written statement.
As democratic political parties, we do not expect taking part in any move to free the country form politics by bringing evil forces to power in the name of regime change,’ said the statement.
‘It seems that the general election will be held shortly and the BNP never clear its stance before the alliance components and whenever the components raise the issue of seat sharing, the BNP avoids the issue with tricks,’ the statement read.
Jebel Rahman Gani said as the prime component of the alliance, the BNP always tried to keep other partners in dark on the recent acts like the formation of the Jatiya Oikya Front.
NDP chairman Golam Mortuza, secretary general Manzur Hossain Isa and NAP secretary general M Golam Mostafa Bhuiyan among others, were also present at the press conference.
BNP standing committee member and coordinator of the 20-party alliance Nazrul Islam Khan expressed his surprise at the announcement of two parties to snap the relation with the 20-party alliance.
“There might be another reason behind the announcement,” he said.
The BNP leader mentioned that the general secretaries of both the parties attended Monday’s meeting of the 20-party alliance where all the allies including them endorsed their joining the Jukta Front and also greeted the BNP for it.
He thinks the parties would be able to understand their mistakes and return to the fold of the alliance in time. – Staff Reporter
