BNP Frustrated After Being Overlooked by Smaller Parties at Consensus Commission

Staff Correspondent

BNP Standing Committee member Salahuddin Ahmed expressed dissatisfaction over smaller parties being given priority to speak at the National Consensus Commission’s dialogue.

His frustration spilled over during the press conference phase as he questioned the speaking order, saying, “Is BNP the fifth-ranked party? Smaller parties sit and speak first—is this acceptable?”

The incident occurred on Thursday afternoon after the 11th session of the second phase of the Consensus Commission’s dialogue at the Foreign Service Academy.

At the post-dialogue press conference, Commission Co-Chair Professor Ali Riaz began speaking first, followed by Gonosanghati Andolon’s Chief Coordinator Zonayed Saki. After Saki left, Islamic Andolon’s Presidium member Ashraf Ali Akon quickly took the seat.

Salahuddin, standing nearby, was visibly irritated. When someone looked at him, he restrained his anger and said, “Don’t disturb the Pir Sahib.”

However, when he was finally invited to the stage, he openly vented his frustration:

“You’re not even following any order here. Smaller parties just grab seats! I’m leaving.”

As he walked toward his car, journalists repeatedly called him back. He took another step forward and remarked, “Is BNP the fifth-ranked party that we have to speak fifth?”

Eventually, at the urging of journalists and party members, he returned and sat beside Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB) General Secretary Ruhin Hossain Prince.

Prince joked, “I thought he had left.”

Meanwhile, when Jamaat-e-Islami’s Assistant Secretary General AHM Hamidur Rahman Azad began speaking, Salahuddin waited briefly.

Later, after leaders from Bangladesh Liberal Democratic Party (BLDP) and Gonoadhikar Parishad left, Salahuddin took the stage to deliver his statement.