Internal strife due to ‘wrong decisions’ puts BNP in trouble

Khaleda faces tough task of reuniting party
BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia is faced with the difficult task of reuniting the party, as the rank and file says the organisation is racked by internal strife due to some ‘wrong decisions’ taken by the current leadership.
The party workers are saying some controversial leaders, who are known as corruptionists and many of whom were even convicted of crimes during the two-year emergency regime, are trying to steer the party according to their own interests, misguiding the party chief.
They allege that those top leaders persuaded Khaleda to take the ‘wrong decisions’.
The chairperson’s move to pick a number of controversial leaders as district level conveners across the country, and nomination of some non-students for leadership positions in the party’s student wing Jatiyatabadi Chatra Dal, are being considered as ‘sending a wrong message’ by a large section of party workers.
Moreover, the tussle between the government and BNP regarding Khaleda’s Dhaka Canttonment house, and the mounting pressure on the party for holding its national council by the 25th of this month, also put the chairperson in a tight spot.
“It’s right that there is instability in the party over different issues, and we don’t know where it is going. But we, the members of the standing committee, are very concerned about the issues,” Lt Gen (retd) Mahbubur Rahman told The Daily Star.
Asked about the ‘wrong decisions’ that supposedly gave rise to the fissures in the party, he said, “Some decisions did give rise to animosities among people within the party, which has been reported to the chairperson, and she will take necessary steps.”
According to a section of leaders, a group of traditional big honchos of the party, against whom there are allegations of misguiding the chairperson while BNP was in power, are behind all the problems.
Those alleged ‘manipulators’ are now the most powerful in the party, although some of them were arrested and even convicted of corruption charges in the aftermath of the 1\11 regime change in 2007.
Two other groups also exist, said the disgruntled party workers.
One of those groups consists of leaders who had been vociferous for democracy in the party during the caretaker emergency regime, but later returned to the mainstream. They are remaining rather silent right now, waiting for ‘a better time’ to seek ‘dignified treatment’.
“We want to work for the party, but it’s not possible now due to a lack of congenial atmosphere,” a former lawmaker of the party who became a ‘reformer’, recently told The Daily Star.
The third group, although known as Khaleda loyalists, wants to bring ousted ‘reformist’ leader Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan and his followers back into the party.
This group feels the party needs to be reformed for its existence, and leaders with ‘clean reputation’ should get more prominence in the organisational hierarchy.
There are some other leaders who do not necessarily clearly fall into any of the groups and are known as honest, dedicated, and loyal to the chairperson. They have become passive observers of the situation, hoping that reason will prevail.
“In bad days we worked for the chairperson and the party without any expectation, and now we hope the chairperson will choose right persons to run the party, who are able to face any situation courageously,” said a senior leader.

Courtesy of The Daily Star