Sheikh Hasina, Prime Minister of Bangladesh and the eldest daughter of the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, has been re-elected as the president of Bangladesh Awami League for the ninth time while Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader re-elected as the general secretary for the second time.
They were elected on the second day (Saturday) of the two-day 21st national council of Awami League held at the capital’s Institute of Engineers, Bangladesh.
AL Presidium Member Abdul Matin Khasru proposed the name of Sheikh Hasina as the party president. Another presidium member Pijush Kanti Bhattacharya supported the proposal.
To elect the general secretary of AL, the joint general secretary of the party Jahangir Kabir Nanak proposed the name of Obaidul Quader while another AL Joint General Secretary Abdur Rahman supported the name.
Later, Chief Election Commissioner of the AL national council Yusuf Hossain Humayun announced Sheikh Hasina as AL president and Obaidul Quader as general secretary.
Earlier on Friday afternoon, Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the two-day long 21st council at the historic Suhrawardy Udyan in the capital where grassroots leaders from across the country thronged.
It was almost certain that Sheikh Hasina, who has been leading the party for 44 years since 1981, would be re-elected as the AL president.
The council session also elected the next central working committee of the ruling party for a three-year term. The council was attended by a more than 7,500 councilors from across the country.
AL sources said the number of women in the AL central committee will increase from the existing 15, as the Representation of the People Order 1972 stipulates that all registered political parties must increase female representation in their committees to 33 percent by 2020.
Changes in leaderships and different posts
Although there are no major changes in the top-level leadership, some changes have been made in the committee from different angles. Many leaders have been included and many others were excluded while posts of a large number of leaders have been changed.
Presidium body
Besides, as part of the changes, the number of presidium members has been increased to 51 from 41.
Former shipping minister and labour leader Shahjahan Khan and two joint secretaries of the previous committee --Jahangir Kabir Nanak and Abdur Rahman--have been included as the new presidium members.
Besides, all of the Presidium and Advisory Council members of the outgoing committee have retained their posts in the new the committee. They are Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Syeda Sajeda Chowdhury, Matiya Chowdhury, Sheikh Fazlul Karim Selim, Mohammad Nasim, Kazi Zafarullah, Sahara Khatun, Nurul Islam Nahid, Engineer Mosharraf Hossain, Pijush Kanti Bhattachariya, Dr Abdur Rajjak, Faruq Khan, Ramesh Chandra Sen, Abdul Mannan Khan and Abdul Matin Khasru.
Join Secretaries
The new committee has got two new joint secretaries. They are Information Minister and outgoing committee’s Publicity and Publication Secretary Dr Hasan Mahmud and Organizing Secretary AFM Bahauddin Nasim.
The two other joint secretaries of the outgoing body – Mahbub-ul Alam Hanif and Dr Dipu Moni--have once again been given the charge of the same posts.
Five Organising Secretaries
Organising secretaries of the outgoing committee--Ahmed Hossain, BM Mozammel Haque and Abu Sayeed Al Mahmud Swapan--have remained in the same posts of the new committee while outgoing central committee members SM Kamal Hossain and Mirza Azam have been promoted as organising secretaries of the new committee.
Office secretary
Office secretary of the outgoing committee Dr Abdus Sobhan Golap has been made publicity and publication secretary of the new committee while Barrister Biplib Barua has been promoted to the post of office secretary from deputy office secretary.
Other Secretaries
Shammi Akter, Delwar Hossain, Engineer Abdus Sabur, Mrinal Kanti Das, Harunur Rashid, Asim Kumar Ukil, Shamsunnahar Chapa, Dr. Rokeya Sultana, Faridunnahar Laily and Sujit Roy Nandi have retained their secretariat posts for International Affairs, Forest and Environment, Science and Technology, Liberation War Affairs, Youth and Sports, Cultural Affairs, Education and Human Resources, Health and Population Affairs, Agriculture and Cooperatives, Relief and Social Welfare respectively. The outgoing committee’s central members Advocate Nazibullah Hiru and Meher Afroz Chumki have been made law affairs and women affairs secretaries in the new committee respectively.
After the announcement of the new committee, the Prime Minister greeted the AL leaders and workers for reelecting her as the party president and urged them to work sincerely for further strengthening the organisation.
Sheikh Hasina said, “I have been leading the party for the last 38 years. So, you (the councilors) would have to consider my age (in the future).”
The AL president sought blessings from all in running the party as their (councilors) aspirations. Later, the party leaders greeted Sheikh Hasina and Obaidul Quader with flower bouquets. Sheikh Hasina also congratulated Obaidul Quader on his reelection as the party general secretary.
