AL asks OIC state diplomats not to accept SQ Chy for top post
Following a luncheon meeting at a city hotel attended by OIC envoys, AL General Secretary Abdul Jalil told reporters, "We made our position clear by opposing the candidature of Salauddin Quader Chowdhury." Jalil reiterated AL's condemnation of SQ Choudhury's anti-Bangladesh activities during the Liberation War and his alleged criminal activities.
"We explained to them why SQ Chowdhury is a controversial person, and we don't want to see any controversial person in such an important position since that could blur the image of the country abroad," he said.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. UNB reports: The AL leaders urged the envoys to persuade the government to nominate an acceptable and competent person for the office of the OIC secretary general changing what they called controversial SQ Chowdhury.
"You please convey our sentiment to your respective governments so that you can send a request to Bangladesh government to nominate an acceptable and competent personality for the prestigious post of the OIC secretary general," Jalil said.
Meeting sources told our staff correspondent that the ambassadors of OIC countries termed the dispute over the candidate chosen by the government as an internal affair of Bangladesh and urged the AL to settle the matter with the government
"Otherwise, Bangladesh might lose the race," observed an Ambassador.
"The ambassadors told the meeting that in any international forum they support a country, not an individual," AL presidium member Kazi Zafrullah told the reporters in a briefing last evening. Deputy Leader of the Opposition in Parliament Abdul Hamid was also present at the briefing held at his JS chamber.
Ambassadors of Afghanistan, Brunei, Iran, Malaysia and Palestine joined the two-hour meeting along with the representatives from the embassies of Egypt, Indonesia and Morocco in Dhaka. However, envoys of Saudi Arabia and Pakistan did not turn up. There are 13 envoys of OIC member states in Dhaka.
About the absence of the Pakistani High Commissioner, Zafrullah said the meeting clashed with a pre-scheduled luncheon party at his residence. On the Saudi ambassador's absence, he said the Saudi embassy people do not usually attend unofficial programmes.
AL leaders Abdul Hamid, Abdus Samad Azad, Abdur Razzak, SAMS Kibria, Kazi Zafrullah, Saber Hossain Chowdhury, Syed Abul Hossain, and AL advisory committee member Faruk Chowdhury attended the luncheon meeting.
Earlier, announcement of Salauddin Quader Chowdhury's name as Bangladesh's candidate for OIC secretary general drew much condemnation from the main opposition AL.
AL General Secretary Abdul Jalil also wrote a letter to Prime Minister Khaleda Zia on June 2, urging her to replace SQ Chowdhury with a candidate acceptable to all.
SQ Chowdhury issue apart, the meeting between AL leaders and the envoys also discussed the US proposal to Bangladesh for sending troops to Iraq and the US Senate bill that proposed 18 Muslim countries including Bangladesh to recognise Israel to get free trade facilities.
They exchanged views on the Middle East peace process and reconstruction of Iraq.
AL leaders also told the envoys that the government has appointed a former BNP leader as chief justice, superseding two judges. The envoys wanted to know from the AL leaders about the newly appointed chief justice's holding any BNP portfolio in the past.
They also briefed the ambassadors about the deteriorating law and order and alleged that the government was not making parliament effective.
The AL leaders will meet with the envoys of the European Union, SAARC, ASEAN and Far Eastern countries very soon, AL sources said.
Meanwhile, BBC radio quoted the Prime Minister's Political Secretary-1, Harris Chowdhury, as saying that there was no question of withdrawing SQ Chowdhury's candidature.
Comments