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Khaleda sends letter

Leading citizens want to see BNP in talks

Staff Correspondent
Main opposition BNP should accept the invitation of the parliamentary special committee on constitution amendment and give their opinions in a cordial discussion, some eminent citizens suggested.
Talking to The Daily Star, they maintained that the constitution is a very important document and, therefore, any amendment to this should be brought after taking opinions from all and through a consensus.
In a late night development, the BNP chairperson sent a letter to the chief of the parliamentary special committee on constitution amendment saying she will not attend its meeting today.
The parliamentary special committee on April 21 sent invitations to the chiefs of the ruling Awami League and Jatiya Party, and the main opposition BNP to join talks on the proposed changes to the republic's charter.
The chiefs of BNP and JP were invited to sit with the special committee today and with the AL President Sheikh Hasina tomorrow.
The talks started yesterday with the constitution experts.
Advising that BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia should join the talks, former adviser to a caretaker government Akbar Ali Khan said as a big political party BNP should have its observations regarding the constitution and its amendment.
“The party [BNP] should express its views at all forums including the parliamentary standing committee," he said.
Former vice chancellor of Dhaka University Prof Emajuddin Ahmed said if the intent of the ruling party
is to legitimise the process of amendment by inviting the opposition leader to the dialogue, then it would be a very dishonest move.
“Still it is not bad if BNP responds positively but question will still arise about the government's intention as to why they have invited the opposition so late. They [the government] should have called all the political parties a lot earlier,” he said.
As the constitution is the fundamental law, so there should be a consensus in bringing about changes in the charter, he added.
Dhaka University Prof Imtiaz Ahmed said there is no reason for the opposition leader to skip the meeting.
“BNP should take it positively and join the talks, as it is only a discussion. They will not sign any stamp paper in the discussion. They should tell where they want the amendments to be made and where they don't," he said.
It would be a separate debate if the main opposition doesn't support the very process of amendment, he said.
In the letter to the committee Chairperson Syeda Sajeda Chowdhury, Khaleda questioned the necessity of bringing changes to the constitution, said party insiders.
Khaleda sent the letter last night in response to the invitation from the special committee to attend today's meeting.
The BNP chairperson's personal secretary Saleh
Ahmed and assistant per-sonal secretary Suratuzzaman handed over the letter to the personal secretary to the committee chairperson at her residence at Lalmatia in the capital at about 11:50pm.
Khaleda consulted with party leaders including Moudud Ahmed and Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir before sending the letter, said party insiders.
BNP will hold a press conference at 4:00pm today to clarify its position.
On April 20, the special committee sent a letter to Khaleda inviting her to attend a committee meeting to give opinion on the government's move to amend the constitution.
The secretary to the committee handed over the letter to the BNP chairperson's personal secretary at her Gulshan office.
BNP standing committee, the party's highest policymaking forum, the same day sat to discuss the issue with Khaleda in the chair. The BNP chief decided not to attend the meeting.
The committee fixed today for the leader of the opposition to attend the meeting.
Khaleda at the standing committee meeting assigned four party leaders to prepare a reply to the letter from the committee giving the reasons for her turning down the invitation, said a party source.