Consensus on talks on polls-time govt: BNP

The meeting took place in the Gulshan residence of UN Resident Coordinator Neal Walker at Tuesday noon.

Awami League General Secretary Syed Ashraful Islam and BNP acting Secretary General Miirza Fakhrul Islam were present in the meeting besides six more leaders from both the parties.

UN Assistant Secretary General for Political Affairs Oscar Fernández Taranco was also present in the meet.

Both sides initially refused to let a word slip about the meeting that stretched over two and a half hours from 2:30pm.

But the BNP in a statement released in the evening signed by assistant office secretary Shaminur Rahman Shamim admitted to taking part in the meeting.

Earlier Fernando-Taranco stated that the two parties had agreed to go forward with the dialogue and ‘positive progress’ had been made in clearing the political crisis.

The BNP statement said a team of the party’s representatives headed by Mirza Fakhrul met with a team from Awami League upon an invitation by UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon’s special envoy.

“Both sides have agreed to continue talks on the polls-time government for an inclusive, free and fair election,” the statement added.

The Awami League delegation included the party's General Secretary Syed Ashraful Islam, Advisory Council members Amir Hossain Amu and Tofail Ahmed and Prime Minister's International Affairs Advisor Gowher Rizvi.

The BNP delegation also included Standing Committee members Khandkar Mosharraf Hossain and Abdul Moyeen Khan and Vice-Chairman Shamsher Mobin Chowdhury.

Other UN officials besides Taranco were present during the meeting.

The statement said the BNP thanked the UN envoy for initiating the dialogue to ‘dispel uncertainties’ about the next general election.

The members of BNP’s delegation met with Chairperson Khaleda Zia at her Gulshan office. Copies of the statement were handed to the press corps as the meeting continued.

The UN envoy arrived on Friday amid a state of turbulence with ruling Awami League’s formation of interim government, preparation for polls with main opposition’s continuous blockades and rejection of the Election Commission’s polls schedule.

He has been meeting with the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition, Awami League, BNP, Jatiya Party, Jamaat-e-Islami, Election Commission and civil society members for the past four days.

He was meant to leave Bangladesh on Tuesday but extended his trip by a day at the last minute after making ‘positive progress.’