The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) has failed to hold its council session in the last six years although its constitution stipulates that the party shall hold its council session every three years.Party insiders said the party does not even have plans to hold the council session in near future.The BNP leaders have blamed the government’s “repression and oppression” for its failure to hold the council.Sources in the party said there was no scope to hold the national council session before April as the party is yet to complete reorganising its district committees.Several policymakers of the party, however, are in favour of reorganising the party’s central committee, albeit on a small scale, by January or February.BNP joint secretary general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi Ahmed, also in charge of the party’s office secretary, said the BNP leaders and workers were being arrested since 2010.“The party acting secretary general was arrested several times. Several members of the party’s National Standing Committee are still behind bars. I myself was in jail for about one year. The circumstancesare not conducive to holding the party council session,” he added.He, however, said the work of reorganising the party at the grassroots was underway despite “government repression.”“The national council session will be held in time after completion of council sessions at the grassroots and once a fair and democratic environment is restored,” said Rizvi Ahmed.At the same time, the post of secretary general in the party has remained vacant over the past five years since the death of Khandaker Delwar Hossain in 2011.Senior joint secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir has been acting as the secretary general since then.The party constitution, however, empowers the chairperson to appoint anyone to any post in the party.
When approached, political scientist Professor Emajuddin Ahamed said the time had come for BNP to strengthen itself.He said he thinks that the BNP should also reorganise its front organisations.He suggested that the party include comparatively younger leaders in its policymaking body—the National Standing Committee.The Representation of the People Order 1972 says that a registered political party should have its leadership elected.The BNP held its last council session on 8 December 2009.The party constitution says that the National Executive Committee of the party shall be elected in the national council session for three years.The National Standing Committee on 27 January in 2013 decided to hold council session in March in that year, but the council session waseventually not held.The party, however, informed the Election Commission about its failure to hold the council.Sources in the party said the BNP had wanted to hold its council session last year with the completion of council sessions at the grassroots level and to that end, the party had sent letters to all districtcommittees to reorganise all committees by next September.The party had planned to hold its national council session last December after the completion of reorganising the district committees by November, but the party could not reorganise even half of its district committees.The reorganisation process came to a halt for the municipality elections held on 30 December last.Concerned sources who are involved with reorganising BNP said that they have initiated reorganising 74 organisational district committees. So far, council sessions were organised at Rangamati, Kurigram, Nilphamari, Netrokona, Brahmanbaria and Syedpur. Leaders of Meherpur district organised council without paying attention to the central leaders.
Council sessions will also be held at Bandarban, Khagrachhari, Sylhetdistrict and city, Chuadanga, Jhenaidah, Natore, Munshiganj, Narsingdi, Gaibandha, Lalmonirhat, and Lakshmipur districts. Reorganisation has hardly made any progress in 10 per cent of the districts, the sources added.BNP joint joint secretary general Md Shahjahan told that the reorganisation process will now gain momentum as polls were over. Municipality elections have reminded them the necessity of an organisational revamp.The party’s national standing committee meeting was held on December 10, 2015. The meeting, however, did not discuss the reorganisation issue, BNP sources said.BNP’s standing committee members Mahbubur Rahman told, the meeting focused on the municipality election, but there must be organisational revamp.There had to be councils in the meantime. Councils would open opportunities for young people. The party sources said they want new leaders though the council session. Meanwhile, 19 members of BNP standing committee were either ill or suffering from old-age ailments. Four to five members needto be replaced.
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