Bangladesh opposition parties form new political alliance ahead of election 

An all-party acceptable election-time government will have to be formed after the dissolution of the current parliament, former minister Kamal Hossain said in the press conference.
Former Bangladesh Prime Minister Khaleda Zia (File photo | AP)
Former Bangladesh Prime Minister Khaleda Zia (File photo | AP)

DHAKA: Bangladesh's main opposition BNP led by former premier Khaleda Zia has forged an alliance with some other political parties to force prime minister Sheikh Hasina to form an all-party caretaker government ahead of the general election in December.

The Jatiya Oikya Front ("United National Front"), led by Kamal Hossain, was formed on Saturday following months of negotiations among opposition parties.

Zia's BNP along with two other parties joined the alliance.

Kamal is a former foreign minister and a prominent lawyer who drafted the secular constitution just after independence in 1971.

"The newly floated alliance started its journey with a vow to force the ruling party to resign from the state power before the announcement of the schedule of the upcoming general election," Kamal said at a press conference.

An all-party acceptable election-time government will have to be formed after the dissolution of the current parliament, Kamal said in the press conference.

He also demanded the immediate release of all political prisoners including BNP chairperson Zia, who has been in jail since February after a court sentenced her over the alleged embezzlement of foreign funds meant for an orphanage trust.

BNP leaders allege she was being denied proper medical treatment in the jail.

The new alliance emerged two days after BNP's acting chairman and Zia's "fugitive" elder son Tarique Rahman was sentenced to life for masterminding a deadly grenade attack in 2004 to assassinate Hasina, who was the opposition leader at that time.

Rahman, lives in London, would be arrested if he returned to Bangladesh.

The has government said it launched a diplomatic initiative to extradite him.

Hasina on Sunday criticised Kamal for forging an alliance with the BNP calling it a platform of killers and opportunists.

"He talks big, criticising corruption, crimes and money laundering. The BNP and Jamaat are crooks. But now he has formed an alliance with them."

During the press conference on Sunday, Nagorik Oikya Convener Mahmudur Rahman Manna announced seven-point demands and 11-point goals of the newly formed political alliance, the report said.

Earlier, differences emerged between Kamal and Bikalpadhara Bangladesh chief and former president Badrudoza Chowdhury over the inclusion of fundamentalist Jamaat-e-Islami and the BNP in the alliance.

The two leaders held separate media briefings instead of their planned joint appearance before the press.

Later, Kamal formed the alliance with the BNP, leaving out Chowdhury.

Bangladesh is set to hold election in December.

Zia, 72, and Hasina, 70, - the country's two formidable leading women - are known as the 'Battling Begums' for their bitter rivalry that has poisoned the Bangladeshi politics for nearly three decades.

'Begum' refers to a high-ranking Muslim woman. Between 1991 and 2006 Zia became the prime minister for three terms and Hasina for one. Since 2009, Hasina's party has been in power.

When the Hasina-led government refused to hand over power to a caretaker government before the 2014 national elections, BNP boycotted the poll. In May, Zia was granted bail by the Supreme Court in the trust case. But, she still remains in jail after being implicated in some other violence-related cases.

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