According to the claims of the reformist leaders, curbing of the party president's absolute power was included in the proposal to establish intra-party democracy and to avert 'mistakes' like the much criticised deal struck between communal Bangladesh Khelafath Majlish and AL, and the hoax of April 30 deadline for unseating the immediate past elected government.

The reformist leaders, led by Senior Member of the AL Presidium Amir Hossain Amu, want collective decisions to be taken regarding any activity of the party, instead of 'one' Hasina's 'diktats'. They want democracy to be installed in the party as more important than any individual, the pro-reform leaders claimed.

Well placed sources in AL told The Daily Star that the top echelon of the reformist leaders including Amu, Abdur Razzak, Tofail Ahmed and Suranjit Sengupta held meetings and finalised the proposal which they decided to place at the next meeting of the party's central working committee (ALCWC) instead of handing it over to Hasina after the ban on indoor politics is lifted.

Claiming that party chief Hasina has long been exercising absolute power leading to a number of mistakes, the top leaders want to curb the party chief's absolute power, sources said.

"As she took a number of wrong decisions exercising her absolute power keeping the party leaders in dark, we have no alternative but to go for reforms putting democracy and accountability at the front and centre of the party," a reformist leader told The Daily Star preferring anonymity.

Amu told reporters yesterday that AL needs reforms to avert repetition of the mistakes like striking a deal with communal Khelafath Majlish and the April 30 fiasco.

The reformist leader sees a lack of democratic practice within the party as the reason for the party chief's wrong decisions including the deal with Khelafath Majlish and the hoax of the April 30, 2004 deadline, when AL planned to unseat the erstwhile BNP-Jamaat alliance government in an undisclosed way -- incidents for which, the reformists are now saying, the party had to take a lot of flak at home and abroad.

"No one was consulted when Awami League struck an alliance with a communal political entity," said Amu adding, "Similarly, the April 30 deadline was declared without getting an approval from the party's executive council. Reforms are necessary as we do not want such mishaps to recur."

The reformist leaders also observed that the party chief has been misguided by some of the sycophantic party leaders cajoling her.

They also said Hasina's March 15 comment that if voted to power her government would legitimise the activities of the present caretaker government, was also made without any consultation with the party leaders. But after a couple of days she made an about turn and termed the current government undemocratic and unconstitutional while she was in the US in the same month. The reformists find the incident to be the result of the party chief being misguided by some of the sycophantic leaders.

The reformist leaders feel that Hasina's statement pitted the party against the present military backed caretaker government, while according to them she should help the government in implementing the reform proposals the AL-led 14-party coalition had put forward for the sake of a free and fair election, said a leader loyal to Amu.

"So from the date of resumption of indoor politics, every decision of the party will be taken collectively," another reformist leader said adding that every statement of the party will have to be made based on consensus. He also said the party will not take any responsibility for Hasina's personal statements once their reform proposal is adopted in the next ALCWC meeting.

With the return of Amu from Singapore on Tuesday night, his Eskaton residence in the capital has become a new hub for informal meetings and discussions of reformist AL leaders, shifting the centre for the party's activities from Sheikh Hasina's Sudha Sadan residence, as police have kept it restricted for the party leaders since Tuesday noon.

More than a dozen of reformist leaders held meetings in Amu's residence on Thursday. Besides, some 30 to 35 leaders loyal to Amu visited his residence and held informal talks among themselves. Some leaders including organising secretaries Mahmudur Rahman Manna and Sultan Mohammad Mansur Ahmed also held meetings with Amu yesterday.