AL leaders will visit districts to minimise internal rift

Awami League’s central leaders will tour districts to bridge the gap between the party nominated candidates and independent candidates of the party that emerges in the wake of the 12th parliamentary election.

Infighting in the party has exacerbated as Awami League allowed its leaders to run as independent candidates in the last election. Now the party eyes to mend the rift that has been created due to the decision.

Awami League general secretary Obaidul Quader said this at a joint meeting of the party at the party’s central office in city’s Bangabandhu Avenue on Wednesday.

Addressing the leaders of central, Dhaka city unit and associate bodies, Quader said Awami League allowed the party leaders to contest as independent candidates as part of a strategy. Now all have to forget about the election-time incidents and work for the party in unison again. Anyone involved with violence will not be spared.

Then Quader said the party leaders will tour districts to minimise the rift among grassroots activists.

He said the schedule and who will tour which district would be finalised later.

At least four people were killed and over a hundred were injured in post-election violence in the country. Incidents of attacking, vandalizing and looting houses also took place. Attackers and victims in these incidents are all Awami League activists and supporters.

Sources in the meeting said Obaidul Quader asked authorities concerned to form the committees in thana level of Dhaka city units and committees of all levels of associate organisations.

Claiming that the election was competitive, Obaidul Quader said a new strategy had to be taken up as the opposition boycotted the polls. As a result, a big portion of the elected lawmakers are independent candidates.
He also said the election was largely peaceful sans one or two stray incidents.

Quader said BNP made many efforts to prevent people from exercising their franchise. But many countries sent election observers and the government is receiving plaudits about the election.

He said the election commission worked independently and even the candidates of the ruling party were also served show cause notice.

Slamming anti-graft organisation Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB), Quader said, “Was the election a staged one? What do you think? Why did the renowned democratic countries of the world term this election as more or less fair?”

He said all the neighboring countries have congratulated the government.
“Even Pakistan High Commission congratulated our prime minister,” Quader said.

Quader said BNP dreamt of going to power with the help of US ambassador Peter Haas but he eventually congratulated the new government.

BNP is now dreaming of sanction and implementation of visa policy, Qauder said.

Awami League presidium members Matia Chowdhury, Abdur Razzaque, Mofazzal Hossain Chowdhury Maya, Mostafa Jalal Mohiuddin, Qamrul Islam, Jahangir Kabir Nanak and Abdur Rahman; joint general secretaries Hasan Mahmud, Mahbub ul Alam Hanif, AFM Bahauddin Nashim and Dipu Moni; organizing secretaries Mirza Azam, Afzal Hossain, Sujit Roy Nandi and office secretary Biplob Barua, among others, were present at the meeting.