Tarique to host dinner with alliance partners on 20 July

Highlights

• Dinner to be held at state guest house Jamuna
• Only non-MP alliance partners expected to attend
• Meeting aims to ease growing alliance discontent

Prime Minister and BNP Chairperson Tarique Rahman is set to meet senior leaders of parties that joined the party’s anti-government movements at a dinner hosted at the state guest house Jamuna on 20 July, according to multiple BNP and allied sources.

The BNP has assigned Standing Committee members Nazrul Islam Khan and Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury to coordinate with the alliance partners and extend invitations, party sources said. 

Several leaders of allied parties told The Business Standard they had heard informally about the planned meeting but had yet to receive any official invitation.

Sources familiar with the preparations said invitations would be limited to leaders of allied parties that do not currently have representation in parliament. Parties whose members were elected to parliament are not expected to be invited, as the discussions are intended to focus on the political assessment and future role of allies that failed to secure parliamentary representation.

The meeting comes amid growing discontent among some alliance partners, who have reportedly complained that political commitments made before the election and during the movement have not been fulfilled since the government took office. Several allies have also alleged that they have been sidelined in the government’s political engagement.

According to the sources, Tarique has taken the initiative to directly address those concerns. The dinner meeting is expected to feature candid discussions on the allies’ expectations, future political coordination and possible participation in government.

Leaders of several BNP-allied parties said they had already discussed their grievances with senior BNP leaders, while some had also met Tarique personally.

Saiful Haque, general secretary of the Bangladesh Revolutionary Workers Party, said discussions about such a meeting had been ongoing for some time, although no formal notification had yet been issued.

“We want to hear the government’s political roadmap and future plans. If given the opportunity, we will also share our assessment of the government’s performance over the past five to six months, including its achievements, shortcomings and areas that require greater attention,” he told TBS.

He added that the meeting would also clarify whether the government intended to maintain political coordination with its allies in the future.

Subrata Chowdhury, acting president of Gono Forum, said he had heard that Tarique planned to meet the alliance partners, but no official date or invitation had yet been communicated.