BNP senior vice-chairman Tarique Rahman will act as the party chief and discharge all duties and responsibilities of party chairperson Khaleda Zia in her absence. He will remain in the post until the next election.
According to party sources, Rahman was entrusted with the new responsibilities through an amendment to the party charter at the sixth council held on Saturday.
The councillors endorsed around 30 amendments to the party constitution, including a provision for ‘one leader, one post’, holding elections to the posts of chairperson and senior vice-chairman together, and increasing the size of the party’s central bodies.
The amendments became part of the party constitution immediately after the councillors endorsed them in Khaleda’s presence. The party will follow the amended constitution in carrying out its political activities until the next council that is scheduled to be held after three years, said party leaders.
According to the amendment, a central leader or the president or the general secretary of any front organisation will not be able to hold the post of president or general secretary of a district or city unit of BNP. However, the party chairperson would be able to appoint someone in more than one post on an ad hoc basis.
The amendment has empowered the party chairperson to dissolve or reorganise the standing committee any time. The number of posts in different tiers of the central body has been increased, and members of the advisory council will enjoy the status of vice-chairmen.
The number of vice-chairmen has been increased to 35 from the present 16, but the number of joint secretaries general remains unchanged at seven. The party will get an organising secretary and two assistant organising secretaries for each division, instead of the previous seven organising secretaries.
The BNP chairperson has been entrusted with the authority to appoint the members of her advisory council, but their number has not been fixed yet. The provision to create a new post for additional secretary general, instead of senior joint secretary general, and 27 subject-wise sub-committees may be included in the party charter. Each sub-committee will have 15 members, who will enjoy the status of an executive committee member, said sources. Besides, the party may get 11 joint secretaries general, instead of the existing seven, and 11 organising secretaries and 22 assistant organising secretaries, instead of the present seven.
In addition to this, the option for having two sets of advisory councils—one as political advisers and the other subject-wise for the party chairperson—might also be incorporated in the party charter, the sources added. New posts for seven assistant international affairs secretaries, four assistant religious affairs secretaries, two assistant training secretaries and two assistant health secretaries have been created through the amendment.
Besides, an assistant secretary post has been created each for finance and climate change, mass education, environment and forests, handloom, self-reliant affairs, family planning, expatriate affairs, science, human rights and tribal affairs.