Hasina retains top AL post, Ashraful new GS

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FE Team | Published: July 25, 2009 00:00:00 | Updated: February 01, 2018 00:00:00

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Sheikh Hasina was reelected as the President of Bangladesh Awami League for a sixth term and Syed Ashraful Islam elected the new general secretary at the party's 20th triennial council on Friday, report agencies.
Party's senior presidium member Syeda Sajeda Chowdhury proposed the name of Sheikh Hasina for the post of President while another presidium member Sheikh Fazlul Karim Selim proposed the name of Syed Ashraful Islam as the general secretary.
Presidium member and Agriculture Minister Matia Chowdhury seconded both the names.
As there were no other candidates against the two key posts, the two names were put to voice vote and the councilors voted unanimously for Sheikh Hasina and Syed Ashraful Islam for a three-year term.
Talking to the reporters, newly elected general secretary Syed Ashraful Islam said that his main duty would be to help Sheikh Hasina in implementing the dream of the party and the government to turn Bangladesh into a digital, modern country by 2021.
"Under the visionary and wise leadership of Sheikh Hasina, I along with my hundreds of thousands of party workers will build a prosperous and developed Bangladesh," he said.
Prior to the election, the previous committee of the AL was declared abolished by the three-member Election Commission led by party's Advisory Council member MA Mannan.
Emerging from the council venue, presidium member Suranjit Sengupta confirmed the election of Sheikh Hasina and Syed Ashraful Islam as party's new leadership.
Suranjit Sengupta told reporters that as per the procedure, now the
party president would elect her presidium colleagues and the general secretary would elect his secretaries.
The full committee was scheduled to be declared formally through a press briefing late Friday night. The council has tasked the president with forming a fully fledged committee, believed to be 73-strong.
Enthusiasm and festivity Friday marked the 20th triennial conference of Bangladesh AL, the oldest and largest political party of the country that witnessed many ups and downs in the last 60 years.
Leaders, workers and supporters of AL and its front organizations across the country assembled at the colourful and highly protected venue of the council, Bangabandhu International Convention Centre (BICC), from early this morning.
Earlier, after the inauguration of the daylong AL council in the morning, party's amended constitution, the declaration formulated in the light of AL's election manifesto, and the party budgets for the next three years were given approval by the council.
At 10:28am, Sheikh Hasina opened the council programmes by releasing balloons and pigeon.
A total of 5,253 councilors took part in the election of their new leadership while some 10,000 delegates and several thousand distinguished guests including professionals and diplomats were present at the inaugural session of the council.
Representatives of various political parties, including main opposition BNP, also attended the session.
Opposition Leader BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia was invited to attend the ruling party's council. Instead of coming personally, Khaleda Zia sent a three-member BNP delegation comprising central leaders Fazlul Haque Milon, Shimul Biswas and former MP Shirin Sultana.
Workers Party President Rashed Khan Menon MP, Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JSD) President Hasanul Haque Inu MP, Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB) President Manjurul Ahsan Khan and general secretary Mujahidul Islam Selim, Industries Minister and Samyabadi Dal president Dilip Barua, Ganotantri Party leader Mohammad Afzal were among the political leaders who attended the inaugural session of ruling party's council.
The party held the council hurriedly to approve and submit a final constitution to the Election Commission by Saturday's deadline.
New electoral laws stipulate a permanent constitution for mandatory registration.
Prime minister Hasina and her younger sister, Rehana, remained in self-imposed exile in then the West Germany and other countries until 1981 after their father, independence architect Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and other family members were killed in a bloody military putsch in Aug 15, 1975.
When she returned home, Hasina became leader of the AL and reshaped it into a major political force.
Ashraf is the son of the acting president of the wartime Mujib Nagar government, Syed Nazrul Islam.
Nazrul Islam was killed with three other national leaders, former prime minister Tajuddin Ahmed, former home minister AHM Quamruzzaman and former finance minister Captain M Mansur Ali, by army officers inside Dhaka Central Jail on Nov 3, 1975.
Abdul Jalil, who resigned his general secretary post for his for 'being ignored' joined the council at around 11:15am and spoke to Hasina.
The stage was arranged in front of the main building of the centre. Central leaders are seated there. Guests and other leaders and workers of the party and its affiliated organisations took their seat in front of the stage.
Hasina seated behind a bulletproof glass and delivered her speech from behind a bulletproof shield on the dais.