A rebel faction of BangladeshÂ’s former ruling party took over the partyÂ’s headquarters under heavy police guard on Wednesday, signalling a major change in the countryÂ’s political landscape. The headquarters of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) of detained former prime minister Begum Khaleda Zia had been locked since January when the army-backed interim government took charge and banned all political activity.
Police protection: Witnesses said police cordoned off the BNP headquarters in Dhaka to allow the dissidents to enter the building. The faction, led by Khaleda’s former finance minister Saifur Rahman and ex-commerce minister Hafizuddin Ahmed, has been invited by the Election Commission (EC) to talks on Nov 22 to prepare for delayed elections. Khaleda demanded the EC invitation to Hafizuddin’s group be withdrawn, threatening legal action against the commission if it was not. Chief Election Commissioner ATM Shamsul Huda said on Wednesday the commission would not change its decision. “If they (Khaleda loyalists) don’t accept it, they can go to the court and we will accept the court’s verdict.”
Filling the gap: The interim authority, headed by former central bank chief Fakhruddin Ahmed, says it remains firmly committed to hold a free and fair election before the end of next year. Saifur, the acting BNP chief, said he had stepped in to “fill the gap in Khaleda Zia’s absence” and will hand back the leadership to her when she is freed. His opponents said Saifur and his associates are “using Khaleda’s name as part of a trick to win support of the bigger faction of the party.