BNP now has decided to hold its national executive committee meeting at Hotel Le Meridien in Dhaka on Saturday next ahead of the court verdict to be delivered on February 8 in a graft case against its chairperson Khaleda Zia.

Speaking at a press conference at the party’s Nayapaltan central office on Thursday, BNP senior joint secretary general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi said the meeting will be held at Hotel Le Meridien, reports the UNB.

He said the meeting is scheduled to begin around 10:00am with their party chairperson Khaleda Zia in the chair.

Rizvi said earlier they had contacted the authorities of the Institution of Engineers, Bangladesh, the Institution of Diploma Engineers, Bangladesh, Mohanagar Natyamancha, Hotel Purbani and International Convention City Bashundhara (ICB), but they declined to allow them to use their auditoriums for the meeting.

He said though the ICB authorities initially gave them permission they later cancelled it.

‘Finally, Hotel Le Meridien authorities have allowed us to hold the meeting and we’ve completed all-out preparations to make it a success,’ the BNP leader said.

Asked whether they got persimmon from the police, he said they hope the police will also permit them to hold the meeting.

After the press meet, the party has started distributing identity cards among the party executive committee members. It will continue to distribute the ID cards among the invited party leaders until Friday evening.

Rizvi said a notice has already been sent to all the 502 executive committee members asking them to be present at the meeting.

BNP formed its 502-member national executive committee on August 6, 2016 over four and a half months after its national council held on March 19.

As per the party’s constitution, the meeting of the executive committee should be held after every three months, but it could not hold any meeting over the last one and a half years.

Now, the meeting was called as the Special Court-5 in Dhaka on Thursday fixed February 8 to deliver on February 8 its verdict in the Zia Orphanage Trust graft case filed against Khaleda and five others.

Khaleda will be disqualified for the next general election if she is convicted in the case.