BartaBangla Report :: The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) is still undecided about holding its national council, even though the tenure of the party’s current central committee had expired two years ago. The BNP leadership mentions that it is not considering to hold the party’s national council at this moment. While a section of BNP leaders expressed ignorance when the council would be held, others indicated it might be held later this year.
“We’re not thinking about holding the party council right now. We’re working to reorganise the expired committees,” said BNP acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir. Asked when the next council would be held, he said it might be held later this month.
Records show the BNP has held only five councils in the past 36 years since its inception in 1978. The last BNP council was held at Bangabandhu International Conference Centre on December 8, 2009.
Most BNP leaders blame the political unrest before the January 5 general election for not holding the council.
“We had made all sorts of preparations, including reserving premises, to hold the council in 2013. But it could not be done as many of our leaders, including the party acting secretary general, were arrested in false cases,” said BNP standing committee member Nazrul Islam Khan.
He told The Independent that the BNP will hold the sixth council at a convenient time.
The BNP leader mentioned that many committees formed to make the 2012 council a success are still functioning. “So, we’ve the necessary preparation to hold the sixth council of the party at a convenient time. We expect the council to be held very soon,” he said.
Khan, who was made convenor of the draft committee, said the BNP has concentrated in relief distribution as most areas of the country are affected by floods. “As soon as the flood situation improves, we’ll announce a date for the council,” he added.
Another standing committee member said that the national council would be held soon, but no deadline has been set yet.
Sources said the BNP high command has formed a convening committee, headed by Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir. Besides, a publication sub-committee has been formed with Abduallah Al Naman as convenor. An entertainment sub-committee, headed by Sadeque Hossain Khoka; a discipline sub-committee, headed by ASM Hannan Shah; and a publicity sub-committee, headed by Goyeshwar Chandra Roy, have also been formed.
A senior leader said the BNP has been delaying the council in fear of break out of internal feud ahead of the new phase of anti-government movement. The BNP is giving priority to reorganisation of the party at the grassroots level before holding the council, he added.
As part of the initiative, the BNP high command has already declared a convening committee of the city unit of the party and held meetings with the student leaders to reorganise the student wing, he said.
The BNP leader also mentioned that the party leadership has just concluded its organisational tours to minimise differences among leaders and rejuvenate them for future course of action. He further said the BNP targets to hold the council in October or by mid-November.
The BNP had held its last and fifth national council on December 8, 2009 and elected its national executive committee for a three-year term. As per the Representation of the People Order (RPO), all political parties need to hold council sessions regularly after expiry of the term of their executive committees.
Meanwhile, a senior official of the Election Commission told The Independent that the BNP had submitted a letter to the commission after the tenure of its central committee ended. “The commission told the party to take initiatives to hold the national council as per its own constitution, but no time-frame was prescribed,” he said.
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