BNP's election turns into selection

It just took seven or eight minutes yesterday for BNP to decide who the secretary general and members of the standing and national executive committees would be, as councillors unanimously allowed Chairperson Khaleda Zia to appoint those instead of voting and electing the bodies themselves.

Conducting the “election” during the 6th council at the Institution of Engineers, Bangladesh, Khandker Mosharraf Hossain, a standing committee member, urged all in favour of authorising Khaleda to raise both hands.

Urging to keep full faith and confidence in her, he reasoned that electing the bodies would take too long, which would not be “logical” and “realistic”. Around half of the 3,100 councillors able to enter the venue voiced their support saying yes.

With the doors open wide at the “closed door session”, at least 15 grassroots leaders delivered speeches, some of them urging to appoint Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir as the secretary general, a post which fell vacant after Khandker Delwar Hossain passed away in 2011.

Several came down heavily on some of the high-ups and called them “betrayers”, alleging they were inactive during the party's anti-government movement in the last two years and urging not to provide them any posts.

Ruhul Quddus Talukder Dulu, president of Natore district BNP, said, following Khaleda's call to launch an anti-government movement before the January 5, 2014 national polls, some senior leaders had announced they would see that the government fell in 15 days.

But most of their cellphones were found switched off afterwards, he said, urging to identify the “betrayers” and prevent any form of “business” centring the formation of the committees.

Later in her speech, Khaleda said, 'You have given me a serious and huge task...After verifying the leaders' backgrounds I will announce the names.”  

She acknowledged that there were some “betrayers” for which the anti-government movement did not attain success and assured that dedicated leaders would be awarded posts.