'Irregularities' tearing Ctg south dist AL apart
"Irregularities" in running the Chittagong south district unit of Awami League (AL) and allegations of "nomination trade" in the recently held Union Parishad (UP) polls are tearing the unit apart, according to party insiders.
The rival leaders including Nazrul Islam Chowdhury, lawmaker from Chittagong-14 constituency (Chandanaish upazila), and Dr Abu Reza Mohammad Nezamuddin Nadwi, lawmaker from Chittagong-15 constituency (Satkania-Lohagara upazilas), alleged that the unit's president and the general secretary were engaged in irregularities and that they failed to run the unit transparently.
The rivalry turned extreme over nominating chairman aspirants during the UP polls, added the insiders.
They also said President Moslem Uddin Ahmed and General Secretary Mafizur Rahman did not maintain fairness when sending the lists of candidates to the central committee and also when forming UP committees in different upazilas, the insiders mentioned, adding that they [rival leaders] therefore became aggrieved.
During recent meetings with Saifuzzaman Chowdhury Javed, AL central executive committee member and lawmaker from Chittagong-13 (Anwara upazila), the leaders informed him of the irregularities and failure of the unit's president and general secretary, said a leader who was present there.
Javed, also state minster for land affairs, assured them of discussing the issues with the party chief Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
"We want the unit's activities to be done transparently, but they are forming the UP committees embodying mostly incompetent people," alleged Abu Reza.
Nazrul echoed Reza.
"The present leadership is not running the unit transparently. We should protest against such irregularities," he told The Daily Star.
"They did nomination business in the polls and are also forming the UP committees involving some unwanted people in return for some personal benefits," Nazrul alleged.
Contacted, Mafizur brushed aside all the allegations, saying, "Some leaders might be aggrieved as they were not given nomination in the polls."
He claimed that while forming UP committees, they selected competent leaderships after taking opinions from grassroots activists.
"Some inactive leaders failed to make their place in the present committee and they are the very people who are trying to fish in troubled waters," said Mafizur.
Denying all the allegations brought against him, Moslem said the party's central nomination board gave the nominations to the candidates in the polls, adding that they just sent recommendations, based on which the candidates were selected…
"So how I and my general secretary are liable for giving nomination to the UP chairman candidates?" he said.
If any leader had any complaint or anything to say about the leadership, they could have raised it in the working committee's meetings," Moslem said, adding, "But none did so."
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