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Mainstream leaders move for BNP unity

Staff Correspondent
A group of former BNP lawmakers, mostly the mainstream leaders, are trying to remove the divide in the party as Khaleda Zia has been released on bail.
Party insiders say the reformist BNP leaders are also eager to be reunited with the mainstream leaders, some of who are opposing the initiative.
"We are proud that our leader Khaleda Zia has walked out of prison through legal process without making any compromise with the government. Her release will gear up the party leaders and activists and she will lead the party towards the national elections," said Lt Gen (retd) Mahbubur Rahman, member of BNP standing committee and also one of the top reformist leaders.
Khaleda's release is a good move not only for the party but also for the nation, as she will lead the party towards democratic process, he observed. Now the crisis inside the party will be tackled, he hopes.
Party sources say process has already been initiated to unite the two factions of the party. Claming that Khaleda has directed them to be united, a number of former lawmakers are coordinating the move to narrow the gap between the factions.
Around 50 former lawmakers held a meeting at the Nam flat of former lawmaker Ilyas Ali on Wednesday to discuss the reception to be accorded to Khaleda following her release.
After the meeting, Ilyas Ali was reported to have to]d journalists that they are for unity in the party. Party chief Khaleda Zia also wants to see the end of the rift, he added.
Sources say the former lawmakers at the Nam flat meeting assured the reformists that no more untoward incidents would take place as most of the reformist leaders remain on their toes due to the aggrieved party activists. The grassroots activists have assaulted a number of reformists in public. Recently, the activists physically harassed a couple of young reformist leaders in front of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University' (BSMMU) the dayTarique Rahman got bail.
HOW REFORMISTS CAME TO SCENE
Following the military’-backed interim government assumed power, political activities were banned and the "minus two" formula became a much-talked-about issue.
Many leaders started extending their support to reforms in the political parties. Pro-reforms BNP leaders on June 25 last year unveiled a 15-point proposal including removing Khaleda from the post of chairperson.
At a press conference that evening, former secretary general Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan read out a set of proposals. He said absolute powers of the party chief must be curbed and the party constitution amended to that end.
They proposed that no-one would hold the apex post for more than two terms and it would be applicable for those who had already held the post for two terms or more than six years.
Following the arrests of Khaleda and her son Arafat Rahman on September 3 last year. BNP leaders including Bhuiyan, former finance minister Saifur Rahman, presidium
member Mahbubur Rahman took the initiative to end the dynasty in the party.
On the day of her arrest, Khaleda also expelled Bhuiyan and former whip Ashraf Hossain from the party’ and appointed Khandaker Delwar Hossain as the new secretary general.
Bhuiyan several times claimed to the press that Khaleda had no authority to expel him and at a press briefing categorically termed the expulsion orders "undemocratic and unacceptable".
About 130 leaders including a few standing committee members, former ministers and lawmakers in a joint statement also rejected the expulsions.
Later at a meeting held at Saifur Rahman s residence on October 29, the reformists 'appointed M Saifur Rahman and Hafizuddin Ahmed as the acting chairman and the acting secretary' general of BNP respectively.
Even the Election Commission (EC) on November 5 invited Saifur-led faction to the electoral reforms talks scheduled for November 22.
Bhuiyan was arrested in the Gatco graft case on May 18 this year and was released on bail last month. On the other hand. Saifur managed to go to Singapore for treatment to avoid arrest and stayed there for long.
Recently, he returned home and got bail from the High Court following a graft case was filed against him.