Newly elected General Secretary of Awami League Obaidul Quader said he would give top priority to strengthening of the party to make sure a victory in the 2019 general election.
The second priority, he said, is to curb communalism and uproot militancy.
Obaidul Quader termed his elevation to the post in the party's 20th national council a reward for his hard work and the highest achievement in his political career.
He said he would employ maximum effort and do everything possible to uphold the sanctity of the responsibility he has been entrusted with by party chief Sheikh Hasina.
Obaidul was addressing a press briefing at Priyanka Community Centre at Dhaka’s Dhanmondi yesterday afternoon. This was his first press briefing as the party general secretary.
He said the party activists had exhibited an unprecedented discipline in organising the council, which suggests that a lot of changes have already taken place in the party.
He said there was no billboard, no posters of activists seeking attention, nor did they chant any slogans demanding a post or position for someone in the committee.
It is a qualitative change in the Awami league leaders, he observed.
“Previously I could just listen to some of the problems from the grassroots activists as I travelled different places, but I could not solve those problems as I did not have sufficient authority to do so.
“Now I would listen to their problems and take steps to solve them instantly,” he said.
Obaidul said he was surprised when his predecessor Syed Ashraful Islam proposed his name. He thanked Ashraf for the proposal.
Obaidul said this is the strength of the Awami League and the magic of Sheikh Hasina's leadership.
Referring to different opinions published in the media ahead of the council, he said: “You wrote so many things before the council. Some of those made me sad. However, we took that easily as it is always good to accept criticism.”
He said the guidance and suggestion of Syed Ashraf who had held the post for the past seven years would help him in delivering his duties.
He said he met Ashraf in the cabinet meeting, he was quite happy and took everything very easily.
Obaidul said: “Our party will not take four months to announce the full committee.
“You will get the full list of the presidium in a day or two and the full committee will be made public in three or four days … maximum a week.”
Obaidul also said the committee will not be a very large one “as the party chief does not want to damage the dignity of the committee.”
He said: “We have increased the strength of the committee only by eight.”
No regionalism
Replying to a question, Obaidul said I have a constituency and a region where I am from. But there is no room for regionalism in me. I am given the responsibility to serve the whole country – from Sunamganj to Sundarbans and from Kutubdia to Tetulia.
BNP's greeting
Obaidul said: “I could have accepted their greetings wholeheartedly if they had attended the event. They did not do that despite the fact that our leaders had invited them and they had promised to come to the event.”