The ruling Awami League has seldom consulted with its grand alliance partners for taking any decision although the parties pledged before the parliamentary polls to work in unison for good governance and a strong democracy.
Errant leaders of the Awami League and relatives of its lawmakers continue flexing their muscles for grabbing public and private property, tender manipulation and extortion in defiance of the party chief Sheikh Hasina’s instructions to stop such crimes.
Leaders and activists of the ruling Awami League must be given opportunities for doing business as a reward for their sacrifices for the party in its difficult times, a high-level meeting of the party was told on Saturday. The meeting, however, suggested that the party men should also show restraints, maintain discipline and abide by the laws of the land while seeking business opportunities, meeting sources said.
The organisational activities of the ruling Awami League remain almost stagnant although the party president, Sheikh Hasina, also the prime minister, has repeatedly called for strengthening the party at the grassroots level. At the AL central executive committee meeting on October 3, Hasina instructed the newly elected leaders to put in all their efforts to strengthen the party organisationally at the grassroots level to translate into reality its ‘charter for change’.
BNP secretary general Khondkar Delwar Hossain yesterday said that Awami League (AL) would never be able to assume power if people can rightly cast their votes. "You (AL) will never be able to come to power in future if free and fair elections are held and if people can freely vote for their candidates," he said at a protest rally in front of the party central office at Naya Paltan in the city.
The ruling Awami League has convened an emergency meeting of its newly constituted secretariat at party president Sheikh Hasina's political office at Dhanmondi at 10 am on Saturday (October 17) to discuss ways of gearing up party activities at the grassroots level.
He is not a government functionary; nor is he a lawmaker from any local constituency or elsewhere. Still his party ruling Awami League decides to accord him a big-budget homecoming reception.
Almost 100 senior leaders from both Awami League and BNP had met the then army chief General Moeen U Ahmed requesting him to launch a new political party as, the politicians claimed, they had been fed up with the two ladies. It was how the minus-two formula came up in the media, said Lt Gen Masududdin Chowdhury, a powerful general during the emergency rule, who is currently serving as Bangladesh High Commissioner to Australia.
Ruling Awami League (AL) high command appears not to be concerned about serious intra-party disputes in Chittagong and dismisses the feud as the "nature of Chittagong politics". Party insiders say Prime Minister and AL chief Sheikh Hasina believes the disputes between the AL factions in the port city would "automatically disappear in due time".
The ruling Awami League on Tuesday removed Abdul Jalil, who recently created controversy by making statements on the party and the 2008 general elections, from the post of chairman of the parliamentary standing committee on the commerce ministry.
