AL national council likely in Dec: Quader

Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader Saturday said the party's next national council might be held in December next. "National elections will be held in 2023 or 2024. So, the party will have to be built as more well-organized and smarter ahead of the next parliamentary polls," he said.

Quader, also road transport and bridges minister, was replying to journalists at the book distribution ceremony for member collection of organizational units of the party at the AL's Bangabandhu Avenue central office here.

AL joint general secretaries-- Mahbubul Alam Hanif, Education Minister Dr Dipu Moni and Information and Broadcasting Minister Dr Hasan Mahmud, Organizing Secretaries Ahmed Hossain, BM Mozammel Haque, Abu Sayeed Al Mahmud Swapan, SM Kamal Hossain, Advocate Afjal Hossain and Shafiul Alam Chowdhury Nadel, Office Secretary Barrister Biplab Barua were present among others.

Quader said Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman had dreamt of building a 'Sonar Bangla'.

Awami League will be made more disciplined and well-organized under the leadership of Bangabandhu's daughter Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to materialize the dream of Bangabandhu by building a Sonar Bangla, he mentioned.

"So, let us build a disciplined Awami League to further strengthen the hands of Sheikh Hasina," he told the party leaders and workers. Concerned leaders of the party have been given directives to make their strides to remove all sorts of internal wrangling in all organizational units across the country, he said.

Mentioning the distribution of member collection books among organizational units, he said it revealed that only Awami League makes democratic practice inside the party. Turning to BNP's call for movement, the AL general secretary said BNP's call for movement sounds hollow.

"Who is the leader of BNP's movement," he questioned, mentioning that this is not a question of AL, rather the people want to know who will lead BNP's movement. BNP is calling leader a person who is a fugitive convict and he fled to London after giving written bond of not indulging in any future politics, he mentioned.

The minister said BNP couldn't take lessons from their failures in waging movement and winning elections for the last 13 years. About BNP's mass hunger programme in protest of price hiking, Quader said, BNP does everything at the end of the day.

They cannot hold any programme what is needed in time, he added. Referring to media reports, the AL general secretary said prices of essentials have started going down. So, BNP has no need to wage movement now, he said.

Noting that BNP makes different demands at different times, he said sometimes BNP demands neutral government, sometimes it seeks election-time government and now they are talking about 'national government'.

Actually, BNP doesn't know what it wants, he said. He called upon BNP to take preparations for the next general elections without 'roaming here and there'. BNP didn't get any benefit by hatching conspiracies in the last 13 years and there is no possibility of getting any benefit in future too, he mentioned.