An unhealthy race over the leadership continues in the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) as the party has started the process to reorganise its committees without council sessions.
In a major move, the BNP recently dissolved several committees and reformed the party's advisory council and national executive committee with an aim to revamp the organisational activities to face the upcoming political challenges.
Some leaders of the party fear losing their posts as these committees are being formed in an ‘undemocratic’ way, insiders say. Even BNP senior leaders have not been consulted before party’s acting chairperson Tarique Rahman has taken such move.
As per the party’s constitution, national council is supposed to be held every three years. But the party held its last council session on March 19 in 2016.
Party insiders said that there is no congenial environment in the country for holding council session. They blamed the government for creating such situation.
BNP secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir told media that they could not hold the national council session in time due to repression by the government.
Some leaders, however, said failure of the party’s field-level leadership to wage a strong anti-government movement has compelled the party high-ups to take such move.
Some think it a routine process of reorganising the party and the decision has been taken after evaluating the ‘success and failure’ of its movement centering the January 7 national election.
Amid the ongoing unrest over the dissolution of some committees, many have started hectic lobbying for having vital posts in different bodies of the party that has been out of power since 2007.
Many BNP senior leaders fear losing their posts as, according to them, party’s acting chairperson Tarique Rahman, is bringing the reform in the party, exercising the party’s constitutional power bestowed upon him.
Insiders say that BNP’s standing committee, the highest policy-making body of the party, was not informed of the move earlier.
Many say even the party’s secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir was not informed of the process. As a result, a resentment has been brewing up among the party’s senior leaders.
It is learnt that the leaders of the dissolved committees have failed to maintain a healthy relations with influential countries like China, Russia, the USA and India. That’s why the BNP did not get a positive response from those countries during the anti-government movement.
Sources say the BNP has reformed the Chairperson's Foreign Affairs Advisory Committee, headed by Tarique Rahman, to improve relations with different countries and their diplomats.
Other members of the committee comprising Abdul Moyeen Khan, Nazrul Islam Khan, Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury, Vice Chairmen Altaf Hossain Chowdhury, Abdul Awal Mintoo, Netai Roy Chowdhury, Chairperson Advisory Council Member Ismail Zabiullah, International Affairs Secretary Humayun Kabir, Former Ambassador Sirajul Islam, and Kurigram district BNP president Tajvirul Islam, will carry out the assigned responsibilities.
About the reform of the party, BNP senior joint secretary general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi said that it is not a sudden incident rather it is a regular process.
Many leaders think that acting chairperson Tarique Rahman, who is staying in London, will complete the party reshuffle by exercising the party’s constitutional power.
Tarique, who was awarded life imprisonment in August 21 grenade attack case, is regularly holding meetings with the party leaders and activists virtually.
