AL may bring change to its leadership bar Hasina presidency, says Quader

The ruling Awami League may bring changes to its leaderships except the president’s position held by Sheikh Hasina, General Secretary Obaidul Quader has hinted.

“There will be no change in one position. That’s the presidency of our party,” he said at a news conference at the party chief’s Dhanmondi offices in Dhaka on Friday.

“Because, no one other than Sheikh Hasina is indispensable to the party. She is still important to us. Everyone down to the grassroots level is united under her leadership.”

The president would decide whether to change the general secretary post, said Quader. “We’ll welcome the change if she does so. It is her wish. Personally, I'm not interested."

About the chaos created by the BNP-backed lawyers at the courtroom during the hearing of Khaleda Zia's bail appeal in a graft case on Thursday, the AL leader said it was an “unpardonable offence”.

“It’s not a political case that the government can release her. This is a corruption case. The government has nothing to do with the corruption case. It's a court matter,” he argued.

“They turned the courtroom into a battlefield, everyone saw it. Even the chief justice had to say finally that he never saw anything like this and everything has a limit”.

The AL leader described the behaviour of the BNP activists in the court as a manifestation of the party’s failure on the political movement.