To break the current political deadlock, visiting UN envoy Oscar Fernandez Taranco tried to convince BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia with a formula keeping Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in her position, reports BBC Bangla.
Taranco, during his visit to Dhaka, met leaders of several political parties, high officials of the Election Commission and civil society members in the last couple of days. On Monday, he met the opposition chief for the second time, but no party revealed what exactly they had discussed in the meeting.
Meanwhile, hours before Taranco’s meeting with Khaleda, a BNP source seeking anonymity told the BBC Bangla that the UN was looking for a way out from within the framework of the current constitution which suggests that Hasina would remain the prime minister.
The UN is trying to convince Khaleda with a set of promises of cooperation to ensure a level playing field in the upcoming election, says BBC Bangla quoting the source.
According to the report, the UN says it will deploy a big team of observers so that the election can be largely fair and the government cannot influence it.
The source said the party apparently did not express disinterest to discuss the so-called formula of the UN envoy.
Until the last situation, the formal stance of the opposition party was that it would not take part in the election without a non-party caretaker government.
The UN envoy had also been seeing whether there was any possibility to defer the election date. In response, the Election Commission told him that it could be considered only if the two major parties reached a consensus.