Hossen Sohel of DOT
Major opposition alliance Jatiya Oikyafront leaders yesterday walked out of a meeting with the chief election commissioner citing “inappropriate behavior”.
The opposition leaders held a two-hour-long meeting with Chief Election Commissioner KM Nurul Huda before walking out disgruntled about it.“His (CEC) behavior was inappropriate,” Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, secretary general of BNP, told journalists before steaming out of Nirbachan Bhaban.
Nazrul Islam Khan, a standing committee member of BNP, said: “We don’t expect this behavior. When we began to complain about police’s role, he took on their side.”
The meeting began around 12noon and ended without bearing a fruit around 2:00pm.
Jatiya Oikyafront wants to hold a rally in Dhaka on December 28 amid a standing restriction on public meetings and rallies inside a week of the election.
Dr Kamal Hossain, Oikyafront’s key leader, and BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir visited the commission office yesterday for this purpose.
Syrul Kabir Khan, an official of BNP’s press wing, told The Daily Star that the two leaders might also bring up other political issues during the visit.
Also, according to what Nazrul Islam Khan said, Oikyafront discussed the “biased role” that police is playing to hinder opposition candidates on the ground.
Among others who joined in the meeting were Gonoshasthya Kendra founder Zafrullah Chowdhury, and BNP leaders Goyeshwar Chandra Roy, and Mirza Abbas.