Former BNP leader Ferdous Ahmed Qureshi, who had been inactive in politics for a long time, took the main initiative to float a new political party.

The initiative got a new dimension recently as Jatiya Party (JP) leader Roushan Ershad along with a group of JP leaders got involved with the process.

They have reportedly held meetings among themselves and with the initiators of the new party.

A few mid- and junior-level political leaders like Sayeed Khokon of Awami League (AL) and former lawmaker Nurul Islam Moni of BNP also joined the move.

Roushan Ershad along with JP leaders Col (retd) HM Gaffar, Col (retd) Zafar Imam, Noor Mohammad Khan, Mainuddin Bhuiyan, Fakhrul Imam, Tajul Islam Chowdhury, Fakir Ashraf, Noor Mohammad Mandal and Moshiur Rahman Ranga met Sayeed Khokon on Saturday.

Sayeed told reporters on Wednesday that he does not want to stay with the politics of division anymore and so has joined the initiative for a new political party. He threw a party to like-minded political leaders on Saturday.

The designers of the new political party is regularly holding meetings at different places in the city and is pursuing some important political leaders to join them, but could not be very successful in their efforts.

Most of these leaders have no strong position in their constituencies and some of them are even facing corruption charges. Many served military dictator HM Ershad as ministers.

The organisers are also trying to communicate with the district level leaders of different political parties as well as members of the civil society.

"The process is going on and you will see the development very soon," Kazi Firoz Rashid, former minister in the cabinet of military dictator Ershad, told The Daily Star yesterday.

Asked if any senior leader from the BNP and AL might join the new party, he said, "The BNP and Awami League leaders are working in their own ways to make their parties more democratic."

The organisers are also reportedly trying to involve Dr Kamal Hossain with the process to make their initiative a success and are now working to formulate a constitution for the new party. They have claimed that they are looking for honest leaders and that the new party will follow a policy which is not rightist or leftist, sources said.

As per the organisers' plan, the new political party will provide honest and competent candidates in the next election for the 300 constituencies across the country and they will form a coordination committee at district levels to run the party, sources said.