BNP’s nat’l council by Mar next

BNP on Saturday night decided to hold its sixth national council by March this year.
The decision was taken at a meeting of the party’s standing committee, its highest policymaking body, BNP acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir told a press briefing. He, however, said the date and the venue of the council will be announced later.
Earlier, the meeting began around 9:30pm at the BNP chairperson’s Gulshan office with Khaleda Zia in the chair.
The last and fifth council of BNP was held on December 8, 2009.
According to the BNP constitution, the party’s national executive committee shall be elected though a national council session after every three years, but the party could not hold it in the last six years.
About the meeting outcome, Fakhrul said the meeting demanded reduction of oil prices following its drastic fall on the international market.
He said, the BNP standing committee members strongly condemned the approval of the Home Ministry for filing a case against party chairperson Khaleda Zia for her comment about the number of 1971 martyrs. “The move was taken out of political vengeance.”
The meeting also expressed deep shock at the recent death of standing committee member RA Gani.
BNP standing committee member Dr Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain, Moudud Ahmed, Lt Gen (retd) Mahbubur Rahman, Tariqul Islam, Jamiruddin Sircar, Gayeshwar Chandra Roy, Dr Abdul Moyeen Khan and Nazrul Islam were present at the meeting.