AL Executive Committee: Old faces reign as members too

The ruling Awami League kept faith in old faces while choosing members for its central executive committee, the party's apex body, just like it did when electing office-bearers.

It did, however, induct four new faces to vacant member posts of the executive committee.

The ruling party yesterday announced the names of 27 out of 28 members of the committee, a presidium member and a member's promotion to a secretariat post following the party's 22nd triennial council on December 24, 2022.

The party elected Syeda Jebunnesa Haque as a presidium member while Syed Abdul Awal Shamim, a member of the previous central committee, was promoted to deputy publicity affairs secretary.

Sakhawat Hossain Shafiq, who was the organising secretary of the immediate past committee and lost the post, was made a central committee member.

ABM Reazul Kabir Kawsar was the only member to be dropped from the central committee.

Besides, Hasan Mahmud, who was third on the list of joint general secretaries, climbed to the top, pushing Mahabubul Alam Hanif to second spot.

Dipu Moni, who was second on the list of joint general secretaries in the previous committee, dropped to fourth in the incumbent committee. AFM Bahauddin Nasim, who was fourth previously, moved up to third on the list.

With the announcement, only three posts -- one presidium member, labour and employment secretary, and a member -- of its 81-member central working committee, the highest decision-making body of the party, remain vacant.

The 81-member central working committee comprises a president, general secretary, 17 presidium members, four joint general secretaries, eight organising secretaries, a treasurer, 21 secretariat posts and 28 executive members.

The four new faces that were inducted into the central committee as members are Tarana Halim, Mohammad A Arafat, Nirmal Chatterjee and Tarik Sujat.

AL General Secretary Obaidul Quader announced the names at the entrance to the Gono Bhaban after attending a meeting of the party's parliamentary board.

There were only six new faces in total among the 78 names announced yesterday. The two others are Jebunnesa and former Bangladesh cricket captain Mashrafe Bin Mortaza.

Besides the central committee, five new faces were inducted into the party's advisory council, the think-tank of the party.

They are immediate-past committee's presidium member and sports secretary Abdul Mannan Khan and Harunur Rashid, DU professor Sadeka Halim, former Jahangarnagar university VC Prof Farzana Islam and former ambassador Majeda Rafiqunessa.

Meanwhile, AL chief Sheikh Hasina's brother-in-law Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain, also MP of Faridpur-3, was dropped from the party's advisory council.

AL Joint General Secretary Bahauddin Nasim was made a member of the party's local government nomination board.

The meeting of the party's parliamentary board decided to give party nominations for the by-polls to three constituencies and leave the two seats for 14-party alliance members Workers Party and Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JSD-Inu). The AL did not give nominations for one other constituency.

The elections to parliamentary seats of six constituencies, which fell vacant after the resignations of the BNP MPs, will be held on February 2.

On December 11, a day after the BNP's rally in Dhaka, seven BNP MPs tendered their resignation letters to the Speaker as part of their party's anti-government movement.

The MPs are Ukil Abdus Sattar of Brahmanbaria-2, Zahidur Rahman of Thakurgaon-3, Mosharrof Hosen of Bogura-4, GM Siraj of Bogura-6, Aminul Islam of Chapainawabganj-2, Harunur Rashid of Chapainawabganj-3, and Rumeen Farhana, who had one of the reserved seats for women.

AL nominated Ragebul Ahsan Ripu for Bogura-6, Mohammad Ziaur Rahman for Chapainawabganj-2 and Mohammad Abdul Wadud for Chapainawabganj-3.

The ruling party left the Thakurgaon-3 nomination to Workers Party and Bogura-4 to JSD-Inu, while the party kept Brahmanbaria-2 open.

On December 24, the AL held its central council which elected Sheikh Hasina, who has been leading the party for 42 years now, for the 10th consecutive time, while Obaidul Quader scored a hattrick with his re-election as the general secretary, the second highest position in the AL hierarchy.

AL DISSOLVES RANGPUR UNITS

AL yesterday dissolved the Rangpur city and district unit committees following the humiliating defeat in Rangpur City Corporation (RCC) polls held on December 27, and announced convening committees.

At the RCC election, AL candidate Hosne Ara Lutfa Dalia lost her security deposit and finished fourth in the race.

Delwar Hossain and Abul Kashem were made convener and joint convener respectively of the Rangpur city AL while AKM Sadat Hossain Bakul was named convener of Rangpur district AL and Professor Majed Ali Bablu joint convener of the unit.