Dhaka: A day after her meeting with Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) policymakers, Khaleda Zia is going to sit with top leaders of the BNP lead-party alliance tonight (Tuesday night) to take their opinions on the new Election Commission (EC) and finalise its next course of action.    

The meeting is scheduled to be held at the BNP chief’s Gulshan office around 9:00pm, said her media wing members Sayrul Kabir Khan.

After the meeting, he said BNP secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir will give journalists the party’s and the 20-party’s formal reaction to the new EC.

President Abdul Hamid on Monday night constituted the new EC making former secretary KM Nurul Huda the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC).

He also appointed four new election commissioners — former additional secretary Mahbub Talukder, ex-secretary Rafiqul Islam, ex-district and session’s judge Begum Kabita Khanam and Brig Gen (retd) Shahadat Hossain Chowdhury.

Earlier, Khaleda also sat in an emergency meeting with BNP standing committee members on Monday night to have their opinions on the new EC and work out the party’s strategy to deal with it.

However, there was no formal briefing about the outcome of the meeting as the BNP chief asked the party leaders not to make any comment about the matter before the party gives formal reaction to it.

Talking to UNB, a BNP standing committee members wishing anonymity said most of the policymakers told the meeting that the EC was formed with pro-ruling party and controversial persons.

Most of the standing committee members, he said strongly opposed the appointment of KM Nurul Huda as the CEC as they said he was one of organisers of Janatar Manch of 1996.

At the meeting, he said the BNP chairperson asked the party policymakers to collect detailed information about the new EC members.

Some standing committee members suggested launching a movement by directly turning down the EC while some others advised to take a strategy to use the EC issue for putting pressure on the government to accept the party’s demand for ensuring an election-time cooperative government.

Before concluding the meeting, the BNP chief also voiced frustration over the EC saying another Rakibuddin-style Commission is formed, the BNP standing committee member said.