The BNP today sought Speaker Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury’s intervention in resolving the ongoing political issue centring the virtual “confinement” of party Chairperson Khaleda Zia at her Gulshan residence in the capital.
An eight-member delegation of the BNP Parliamentary Party led by Opposition Chief Whip Zainul Abdin Farroque held a brief meeting with the Speaker at her office in the parliament and submitted a memorandum on the issue.
During the nearly 10-minute meeting, the Speaker assured the opposition delegation of taking steps in this regard, the opposition chief whip told the media after the meeting that began around 10:30am.
The BNP leader claimed that Khaleda remained cordoned off to her house since Thursday evening after declaring the ‘March for Democracy’ programme.
Now, people want to know from the government whether she has been arrested or put under house arrest, Farroque said.
“We want to know through you (Speaker) why the government has confined Khaleda and withdrawn her security protocol,” he questioned.
The top BNP leaders are not being allowed to meet the opposition chief, who has been barred even from going to the party’s Nayapaltan office, he claimed.
Ignoring the opposition’s demand for cancellation of the January 5 poll schedule, the government is determined to hold the election and showing its power through the joint forces, Farroque added.
The BNP delegation informed reporters that they would also call on President Abdul Hamid and has already sought appointment to meet him.
On December 29, the main opposition party called a nonstop blockade of rail, roads and waterways from the first day of the new year to resist what it called the one-sided January 5 election.
On the other side, ruling Awami League insisted that the parliamentary polls must be held on January 5, and then it could sit with the BNP to decide on the next course of action, deepening the political impasses.
