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Published : 24 Dec 2022, 04:38 PM
The Awami League has re-elected Sheikh Hasina and Obaidul Quader to lead the ruling party as president and general secretary respectively for the next three years.
The decision came at the party's 22nd national council at the Institute of Engineers's auditorium on Saturday.
Fazlur Rahman Faruq, president of the party’s Tangail district unit, proposed the prime minister's name for the post of president, which was supported by MP Mostafizur Rahman, chief of the party's Dinajpur district unit.
Meanwhile, Quader's name was proposed by Food Minister Sadhan Chandra Majumder, the general secretary of the party's Naogaon chapter, and backed by Maniruzzaman Tarun, general secretary of Dhaka District Awami League.
Hasina inaugurated the ruling party's council at Dhaka's Suhrawardy on Saturday with the aim of charting the party's course forward and steering it into its 75th founding anniversary in 2024.
After a two-hour interval, Hasina launched the second session of the conference at the Engineers Institution Auditorium shortly after 3 pm.
A total of 7,500 party councillors from all across the country gathered for the session to elect the party’s new leadership.
The council ahead of the general election is significant as the Awami League scrambles to tackle political and economic challenges by strengthening itself and garnering more popular support.
The Awami League now aims to win the election expected in January 2024 and oversee the transition of the country from a ‘Digital Bangladesh’ to a ‘Smart Bangladesh’ as envisioned by Prime Minister Hasina, who has been leading the party for over four decades.
The Awami League has held three councils since it came into power in 2009, with the last one in 2019 after winning the parliamentary polls for the third consecutive term.
NO NEW FACES IN THE EXEC BODY
Hasina named 48 members of the 81-strong central working committee with no new inclusions, except for some reshuffling and promotion.
Dr Mostafa Jalal Mohiuddin, part of the previous committee, has been promoted to a member of the presidium, the 73-year-old party’s top policymaking body, while incumbent presidium members Nurul Islam Nahid, Ramesh Chandra Sen and Abdul Mannan Khan have been moved to the advisory council.
The other leaders who retained their positions in the presidium are Matia Chowdhury, Sheikh Fazlul Karim Selim, Kazi Zafarullah, Engineer Mosharraf Hossain, Pijush Kanti Bhattacharjee, Abdur Razzaque, Lt Col (retd) Md Faruk Khan, Shajahan Khan, Jahangir Kabir Nanak, Abdur Rahman, AHM Khairuzzaman Liton, Mofazzal Hossain Chowdhury Maya, Qamrul Islam and Simeen Hussain Rimi.
All the incumbent joint general secretaries -- Hasan Mahmud, Mahbub-ul-Alam Hanif, AFM Bahauddin Nasim and Dipu Moni -- will retain their positions.
‘AL CHIEF FOR LIFE’
The prime minister recently said she would step down as Awami League president if just a single councillor voted against her in the national council.
Before the council, Quader said the question of Hasina abandoning the top post does not arise as he strongly believes no member wants her to leave. “Our party president is indispensable to us. She is the emblem of our unity.”
During the council, the grassroots members of the party made it clear that they have put their trust in Hasina to lead the party. “The people here have only one demand: Sheikh Hasina will stay as the party president as long as she is alive. The Awami League will come to power again under her leadership,” said Abdul Mazid Molla, a councillor from Joypurhat.
“We expect her to lead the party throughout her life,” said Hasan Nitol, an activist.
Hasina launched her political career when she was a student at Eden Women's College in the 1960s. She was elected vice-president of the Eden College Students' Union in 1966-67 as a Chhatra League candidate. She was general secretary of the Chhatra League's Rokeya Hall unit while being a student at Dhaka University.
During the Liberation War in 1971, Hasina was in captivity along with her mother Fazilatunnesa Mujib, sister Sheikh Rehana, and youngest brother Sheikh Russel.
Hasina lost almost all of her family members in 1975, but she and her sister Rehana escaped the carnage as they were abroad at the time.
Barred from entering Bangladesh for a long time, Hasina was elected president of the Awami League in absentia in February 1981. She returned home on May 17 of the same year.
She spearheaded the Awami League's successful campaign along with other political parties and alliances to restore democracy in 1990.
After the Awami League’s victory in the 1996 election, she catapulted the party to power again after the 2007-08 military-controlled government.
QUADER’S HAT-TRICK
After Hasina had immensely praised Quader in a recent programme, his re-election was almost certain, but the general public, along with Awami League activists, eagerly watched the council to see if Quader continues to hold the general secretary’s post or is replaced by someone else.
Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and Zillur Rahman held the post for the highest four terms. Tajuddin Ahmad was elected general secretary three times.
Now Quader has scored a hat-trick of becoming Awami League general secretary.
A native of Noakhali, Quader was on the merit list after higher secondary exams from Noakhali Government College. He graduated in political science from Dhaka University.
As a student leader, he took part in the Six-Point Movement of 1966 and the 1969 uprising before joining the Liberation War as the commander of the Mujib Bahini in Noakhali’s Companiganj.
After the assassination of Bangabandhu in 1975, Quader was arrested. He became president of the Bangladesh Chhatra League while in jail. He held the post for two terms.
Quader had also worked at the daily Banglar Bani. He entered the central committee as the culture and education secretary while serving as the state minister for youth, sport and culture in 2000.
Before becoming a presidium member in 2009, he worked as a joint general secretary.
