Taib Ahmed
The leader of the opposition, Khaleda Zia, also Bangladesh Nationalist Party chairperson, is unlikely to join the dialogue with the parliamentary special committee on constitution amendment, scheduled for April 25.
Instead, she was weighing the idea of sending a letter to the parliamentary panel in response to its invitation.
The parliamentary special committee on constitution amendment on April 20 wrote to the BNP chairperson inviting her to the discussions on constitution review.
Khaleda held a meeting with her party's senior leaders on Thursday night at her Gulshan office to discuss whether to join the dialogue with the parliamentary panel on changes to the constitution of the republic.
The meeting also decided tentatively to send its reply after taking opinions from the BNP's executive members at its national executive committee meeting today.
A standing committee member who attended Thursday night's meeting said a reply to the special committee's invitation might be sent on Sunday.
Khaleda is likely to sit again with a group of senior leaders to finalise the reply.
Most of the BNP leaders attending the meeting said the party could in no way join the process of constitution amendment as they considered 'unacceptable' the very committee which was formed following court verdicts which, they thought, had curbed the sovereignty of parliament.
They questioned in the meeting how the BNP could join the process of constitutional changes in which Sheikh Mujibur Rahman would be made the proclaimer of independence.
Some leaders, however, advised the party chief to weigh the idea of joining the meeting to give a 'note of dissent' which, they thought, would give it a political mileage.
A senior party leader said Khaleda Zia might join the dialogue only if the invitation was made by the leader of the house, Sheikh Hasina.
Opposition chief whip Zainul Abdin Farroque on Friday trashed the parliamentary special committee's invitation to Khaleda Zia to a discussion on constitution amendment, terming it a 'farce'.
'The letter is nothing but a farce as the special committee has cut many things from the constitution over the last nine months. Then what is the point of joining the discussion,' Farroque said while speaking at a human chain programme in front of the National Press Club in the city.
Farroque had attended Thursday's meeting at Gulshan which ended inconclusively.
The youth front of the Jatiya Gantrantik Party organised the programme in protest at the 'violence in the Chittagong Hill Tracts and unconstitutional peace accord'.
The opposition chief whip also criticised the special committee's 'belated' invitation to the opposition leader.
He called on the government to go for a referendum on the constitution amendment and warned it against any move in this regard ignoring the people's opinion.
'The people will not accept if changes are made to the constitution unilaterally,' he said, 'Forcible return to the 1972 constitution by taking advantage of the government's absolute majority [in parliament] will not be acceptable'.
Source: New Age
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