The name of BNP secretary general and Local Government Minister Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir is under top-level discussion as the party’s presidential candidate, BBC Bangla reported, citing several BNP sources. No formal announcement has yet been made by the party.
Party sources say discussions are under way at BNP’s policymaking level about nominating an active politician for president, and that Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir’s name is gaining importance in those discussions, leaders said. In last-minute discussions, however, the names of three other senior party leaders are also coming up alongside Mirza Fakhrul.
Besides top leaders, BNP’s highest policymaking forum, the national standing committee, plays the most active role in the party’s presidential nomination. But this time the committee has left the choice of presidential nominee to party chairman and prime minister Tareque Rahman.
A BNP policymaking-level leader said the top leader had already discussed possible presidential candidates with several senior leaders, and that Mirza Fakhrul’s name had drawn the most importance in that discussion.
According to party leaders, BNP wants an experienced and acceptable party politician as president this time. On that count, Mirza Fakhrul’s name had come forward because of his long political experience, his role in running the party and his acceptability in national politics.
They said BNP had repeatedly faced disaster through suppression and torture during the ousted Awami League’s long rule. The party’s top leader Khaleda Zia had had to be in jail in the final phase of her life, and their other top leader Tareque Rahman was in exile in London. In the absence of the two top leaders, Mirza Fakhrul was in the visible main leadership inside the country for a long time during BNP’s crisis and in building the movement against the Awami League.
A BNP top-level figure said, on condition of anonymity, that Tareque Rahman had led the party from exile in London, but that Mirza Fakhrul had played an important role in organising the movement on the ground at home and keeping BNP united. Several party leaders said BNP leaders and activists viewed this role of Mirza Fakhrul’s positively.
They said the standing Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir had built inside and outside the party, as acting secretary general and later secretary general, had at various times prompted discussion in the party about honouring him. At the same time, they said, although the president’s powers are limited under the existing constitution, presidents had at various times in the past become important in political or constitutional crises. The three-month caretaker government system for running national elections has also been brought back, and the president’s role had proved important at such times in the past.
Even weighing these situations, BNP has taken the position of making an active party politician president this time. Besides Mirza Fakhrul, the names of standing committee members Dr Khondaker Mosharraf Hossain, Dr Abdul Moyeen Khan and Nazrul Islam Khan, and of parliament speaker Hafiz Uddin Ahmed, currently acting president, are also under discussion.
There are also differing views within the party on Mirza Fakhrul. One section holds that he should be made president in recognition of his long political contribution. Another holds that an experienced leader like him is still needed in an active role in running the government and the party, and that the party would suffer imbalance if he were retired from politics. Making Mirza Fakhrul president would also require BNP to appoint a new secretary general and a new local government minister.
Former president Md Sahabuddin resigned on 24 July, after which speaker Hafiz Uddin Ahmed has been acting president. The Election Commission has set 20 August for the presidential election. No formal decision has yet been announced on whom BNP will nominate; the responsibility for the final decision has been given to party chairman and prime minister Tareque Rahman, who will decide soon.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report