If Mirza Fakhrul becomes president, Rizvi to be BNP acting secretary general
BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir and Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi
Bangladesh Nationalist Party Secretary General and Minister for Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir is set to become the country’s next president. This is now almost certain. The reason is that his name is at number one on the BNP’s list for the presidency.
According to a source at the party’s policymaking level, BNP Chairman and Prime Minister Tarique Rahman has finalized Mirza Fakhrul’s nomination for the presidency. If nominated by the BNP, Mirza Fakhrul will become the country’s 23rd president due to the party’s majority in the Jatiya Sangsad.
Meanwhile, as the possibility of Mirza Fakhrul becoming president becomes clearer, the question of who will become the BNP’s next secretary general is also coming to the forefront. If Mirza Fakhrul becomes president, BNP’s constitution stipulates that Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi will become the party’s acting secretary general. Later, the party’s new secretary general will be elected through the national council.
Current BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam was elected the party’s Senior Joint Secretary General through its fifth national council held in 2009. On March 16, 2011, then Secretary General Khandaker Delwar Hossain died. Following his death, Mirza Fakhrul took charge as the party’s acting secretary general as the Senior Joint Secretary General.
Later, Mirza Fakhrul was elected BNP secretary general through the party’s sixth national council in 2016. He has continued to perform this responsibility for more than a decade as a ‘vigilant guardian’ during periods of crisis, struggle and leadership. Mirza Fakhrul is currently also serving as the minister of the Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives.
Political analysts say that if Mirza Fakhrul is elected president, several organizational changes will have to be made in both the party and the government. In that case, he will have to leave his responsibility as the minister for Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives. At the same time, new leadership will have to be brought in for the post of BNP secretary general. Under the Constitution, his Thakurgaon 1 constituency will also become vacant once he assumes office as president. As a result, a by election will be required in that constituency.
Although the date and time have not yet been finalized, the ruling BNP has begun preparations for its seventh national council with December of this year in mind. Through this council, BNP will elect a new secretary general. This is because, whether or not Mirza Fakhrul becomes president, he does not want to remain in the party’s second highest and important organizational position again due to his physical illness and age.
Mirza Fakhrul himself recently said, “I am very tired. I have to remain until the next council. I want to retire after the council. I have become quite old and I am becoming ill.”
