AL national council likely in December

Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader yesterday said the party's next national council might be held in December.

"The national election will be held in 2023 or 2024. So, the party will have to be built as a more well-organised and smarter one ahead of the next parliamentary polls," he said.

Quader, also the road transport and bridges minister, was speaking to journalists at a programme at the party's Bangabandhu Avenue central office marking the distribution of member collection books of its organisational units.

He said Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman had dreamt of building "Sonar Bangla".

The AL would be made more disciplined and well-organised under the leadership of Bangabandhu's daughter Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to materialise the dream, he added.

The ruling party general secretary said party leaders concerned have been given directives to make strides towards removing all sorts of internal wrangling in all organisational units across the country.

Mentioning the distribution of member collection books among the party's organisational units, Quader said it revealed that only the AL practices democracy within the party.

Talking about the BNP's call for waging a movement, the AL leader said the call sounds hollow. "Who is the leader of the BNP's movement?"

He said the opposition party couldn't take lessons from its failures in waging movement and winning elections in the last 13 years.

The road transport minister called upon the opposition party to prepare for the next general election.

Referring to media reports on the rising prices of daily essentials, the AL general secretary said the prices have started going down and and that's why the BNP does not need to wage a movement now.

AL joint general secretaries Mahbubul Alam Hanif, Dipu Moni and Hasan Mahmud, organising secretaries Ahmed Hossain, BM Mozammel Haque, Abu Sayeed Al Mahmud Swapan, SM Kamal Hossain, Afjal Hossain and Shafiul Alam Chowdhury Nadel were present, among others.