Zafar to enforce blockade

Zafar, expelled by Jatiya Party Chairman HM Ershad, made the pledge to BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia when he met her on Thursday night for a second time in quick succession.

At the end of an hour-and-a-half-long meeting with the Opposition Leader, he said, "We believe the present government is on its deathbed. The fall of the Hasina regime is imminent."

Having floated a parallel ‘Jatiya Party’, he said he had told Khaleda that his party leaders and activists had been asked to join the Opposition's movement with full vigour.

"We express full solidarity with the programmes of the 18-party Opposition alliance," he said.

The ruling Awami League is working towards holding the election by constituting an 'all-party' interim cabinet, but the BNP-led Opposition has been enforcing shutdowns and blockades to press its demand for a non-party government to oversee the polls.

It has opted for a third spell of countrywide transport shutdown stretching over three days starting from 6am on Saturday.

Ershad rusticated Zafar over differences on joining Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's polls-time ‘all-party’ government and participation in parliamentary elections.

But in a dramatic U-turn on Wednesday evening, Ershad himself seemed to vindicate Zafar's stand by announcing his boycott of the election.

The Jatiya Party chief then directed his party ministers in the interim cabinet to resign and asked the party's chosen candidates to withdraw their nomination papers.

Zafar on Thursday said he would call a press meet at his residence on Saturday to announce the formation of his new party.

Responding to a query on whether he would go back to Ershad, now that the latter has walked out of the ‘all-party’ cabinet and decided to boycott the election, Zafar said, "I am not going to be with Ershad again."

But he added that all decisions will be taken at a council meeting of his party he has summoned on Dec 18.

Will he join the 18-Party alliance? "The council will take a decision," he said.

Zafar, however, admitted he felt an ideological affinity with the BNP, a party founded by Ziaur Rahman, in whose government he was a minister once.

He later joined Ershad and became the Prime Minister in his government from 1989 to 1990.

But Zafar was still a trifle sceptical about the seriousness of Ershad's poll boycott decision.

"I will wait until Dec 13 (the last date for withdrawing nominations) to see if Ershad finally sticks to his stand."