Ehsanul Haque Jasim :The BNP is planning to launch fresh anti-government movement after forming the district unit committees, and holding the party’s sixth national council by November this year. Party insiders said that the BNP would launch fresh and ‘effective’ movement by the end of the year after the party’s reconstitution. The party wants to create life in its leaders and activists before the street movement, as BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia does not want to see the repetition of any failed movement. They said that the party has started taking preparations for holding the National council in November by forming fresh committees of its 75 organisational district units through Council by September 30. The party has already asked its district units to constitute the new district committees through holding council. It gave the instruction in a letter sent to the president and secretary or convener and member-secretary of the 75 organisational districts. The three-page letter, signed by BNP Joint Secretary General Mohammad Shahjahan, was issued from the party’s Nayapaltan central office on August 9.In the letter, it was warned that the central BNP would make decisions on the district units who would miss the deadline. Tenures of 69 out of the 75 district units have already expired. Sixteen of those expired committees are functioning as convenor committees.The letter asked the district unit leaders to consider the performance of leaders in the anti-government movement, especially during the non-stop blockade and in resisting the January-5 elections in reconstituting the committees, sources said.Mohammad Shahjahan said that he signed the letter in the absence of party’s acting Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir. He said that they have sent the letter to the district units to form their all committees through council with leaders who made contributions to the party’s movement and sacrificed for it.Senior BNP leaders said that the party chief wants to invigorate its city, district, upazila and municipal committees first with dedicated and competent leaders before overhauling the central committee. BNP standing committee member Lt Gen (Retd) Mahbubur Rahman said that the council has already been delayed by nearly three years. “We have the plan to hold national council in a bid to make the party for an effective street movement. We hope that we will be able to hold our national council by the end of October or mid-November. Dedicated leaders will be appreciated in the party’s reconstitution process,” he said. BNP Vice-Chairman Abdullah-al-Noman said that senior leaders of the party are assigned to help the district units to complete formation of the committees within the deadline.The last and fifth national council of the BNP was held on December 8 in 2009, which elected Khaleda Zia the party Chairperson, while Khandaker Delwar Hossain its Secretary general. Khaleda Zia’s eldest son Tarique Rahman, who has been staying in London, was also elected the party senior vice chairman at the same council. After Delwar’s death, party senior joint secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir was made acting secretary general. Though BNP had planned twice to hold the National council in March 2013 and in September 2014, the party finally failed to do so. According to the RPO and the rules of party registration, political parties must hold their councils in time after every three years.
