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New BNP to revolve round Tarique

Goes to council today amid festivity, speculations

Rakib Hasnet Suman
Aiming to break the mould, BNP goes to national council today amid festivity and speculations over Tarique Rahman's possible role in the party.
Khaleda Zia, who has already been reelected its chairperson unopposed, is now faced with the challenge of finding a right person for the secretary general's post. A number of top leaders are vying for thevital position.
Some BNP leaders said she is looking for a leader with clean image and may come up with a surprise choice for the post.
At the council, the chairperson will announce names of the secretary general and some of the new central committee members, Joint Secretary General Goyeshwar Chandra Roy told reporters at
BNP's Naya Paltan headquarters yesterdayevening.
Party ranks believe the convention, which is being held after a 16-year stretch, is going to seal for Zia family an absolute authority over the leadership.
Late on Sunday night, the national standing committee decided to create a post of senior vice-chairman who shall fill in for the chairperson. No official announcement, however, was made as of filing this report at 1:00am.
Observers say the post might be designed to ensure that Tarique, elder son of the BNP chief and leader of the opposition, has a smooth ascent to the party helm.
Talking to The Daily Star yesterday, sources close to the council arrangement said the national standing committee and
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central executive committee are likely to be recast, bringing in a number of new faces, mostly young leaders who were with the party during the state of emergency.
This apart, the post of senior joint secretary general may be incorporated into the party constitution.
Tarique had been the senior secretary' general till he went abroad for treatment last year. Introduced in 2005, the post could not be included in the charter, as there was no council during the period.
Besides 2,512 councillors, 12,000 delegates and 2,600 guests including political leaders and eminent citizens are expected to converge at Bangabandhu International Conference Centre for the council
The standing committee has already approved Khaleda's speech, which will touch on political developments in the last three years, government's performance and future role ofBNP
In her address, the chairperson will call on the BNP leaders and workers to unite in efforts to strengthen the party, which was routed by arch rival Awami League in the last general election.
Standing committee member RA Gani yesterday told The Daily Star that they have completed all preparations and the party is now set for the “historic national council” that will present the nation a“new BNP”.
Khaleda, also former prime minister, will inaugurate the daylong programme through hoisting national and party flags at 10:00am.
Tarique, who is now in London, may address the coun-cillors through a videoconference, party leaders said.
The council venue was all ready and waiting. Decked out with flags and streamers, it was swarming with party faithful yesterdayevening.
Khaleda Zia has visited the venue twice.
Most of the councillors and delegates were already in the capital. They were busy discussing among themselves the potential changes that may come to thecommittees.
"This council will show that we have won against the conspiracies hatched throughout last three years," Rafiqul Islam, a delegate from Ghandpur district, toldThe Daily Star.
He also observed that those who had betrayed the organisation during its troubled time should not be allowed to get back to the fold.
During the caretaker government rule, BNP almost split into two factions. At the begin-
ning of the year, it took up a countrywide programme to shore up the struggling organisation.
The reorganisation efforts began on February 3 through holding view-exchange meetings between central- and grassroots-level leaders and ended on November 30 with one-third of the task left unfinished.
On June 9, the party announced names of conveners and a few joint conveners after dissolving 71 out of 75 district committees to prepare for the councils.
Forty-eight organisational districts have elected leaderships through councils. Most of the rest could not hold councils because of internal conflict.
Conveners and joint conveners of the districts where councils could not be held will attend today's event as councillors.
The existing party charter however provides for only presidents and general secretaries to be considered councillors.
A significant number of young leaders close to Tarique would be rewarded while some others whose performance affected the party badly will be ousted from the committee.
The leaders who took the side of party's expelled leader Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan during the emergency rule will also be left out as the field level leaders are mounting pressure to reconstitute the committee with dedicated leaders only.
Talking to The Daily Star, many senior leaders predicted that Tarique, who was arrested on corruption charges and later obtained bail during the last caretaker government rule, would be reinstated as the party's senior vice chairman.
They, however, said the full-fledged committee would be announced after the council followed by Khaleda's visit to herson in London.
Meanwhile, the party's alllevel leadership has taken an all out effort to restore Tarique Rahman's image as he was censured for corruption allegation during the BNP-led four-party alliance. Even Hawa Bhaban, the then office of BNP chairperson, was also criticised as the alternative powerhouse during that time.
Previously, Tarique announced "quitting politics" just before leaving for London on July 11, 2008, the day of his mother's release from sub jail.
The national council will also approve the provisional changes brought earlier in the party constitution to meet the Election Commission's (EC) registration criteria and make the' constitution more demo-
cratic.
The party has decided to bring some major changes including extending the tenure of the chairperson, creating the post of senior vice chairman and increasing the number of posts in the executive committees.
Accordingly the party is going to increase the tenure of its chairperson to three years from two years.
The BNP policymakers brought the changes to consolidate the power of the chairperson considering the problems arose in running the party duringthe caretaker rule.
Taking advantage of a provi -sion in the party constitution that said the standing committee will sit at least once a month, a faction of BNP leaders led by late Saifur Rahman on October 29,2007 convened a meeting of the standing committee and decided to appoint Saifur and Maj (retd) Hafizuddin Ahmed as acting chairperson and acting secretary general respectively. This set of leaders was later recognised as reformist faction.
Keeping this in mind, the party has decided to include a new provision that says the chairperson will convene the standing committee meeting whenever s/he wants but it must be held once in every three months.
Asked about the possible amendments in the constitution, Lt Gen (retd) Mahbubur Rahman, a member of the standing committee, yesterday said they would make the amendments so that the consti -tution can fulfil the requirements set by the EC.
The BNP has invited leaders of different political parties including Prime Minister and Awami League President Sheikh Hasina, leaders of business and professional bodies, intellectuals, cultural personalities, envoys of different countries assigned in Bangladesh and elite of the city to its council.
SECRETARY GENERAL
The BNP chairperson will face a tremendous challenge in picking a secretary general for her party, as a group of leaders wan t to reappoint Khandaker Delwar Hossain while another faction is strongly backing Khandaker MosharrafHossain.
Names of former minister Tariqul Islam and party’s joint secretary general Nazrul Islam Khan arc also in discussion.
Party insiders, however, said the chairperson might appoint a fresh leader whose image is not questionable to people. Former state minister Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alanigir becomes a probable candidate for the post on this ground, they added.