Kazi Sajjad Zahir Chandan was elected president of the Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB), while Abdullah Kafi Ratan became the party’s general secretary.
The announcement came during the newly formed Central Committee’s first meeting at the party’s 13th congress on Wednesday at Mukti Bhaban in Dhaka’s Purana Paltan.
“Through the votes of the congress-elected members, Kazi Sajjad Zahir Chandan was elected president and Abdullah Kafi Ratan general secretary, CPB central committee member Manbendra Deb while speaking with Dhaka Tribune.
Both leaders previously served on the party’s presidium.
Chandan, the new president, was president of the Bangladesh Students’ Union from 1994 to 1996 and also served as general secretary of the Bangladesh Krishak Samity.
Ratan, meanwhile, led the Dhaka University unit of the Students’ Union and was the first elected general secretary of Dhaka University’s Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Hall Students’ Union in 1989–90. He currently serves as president of the Bangladesh Youth Union and is a founding member of the Bangladesh Garment Workers’ Trade Union Centre.
The central committee also formed an eight-member presidium, including Mujahidul Islam Selim, Rafiquzzaman Laek, SA Rashid, Ragib Ahsan Munna, Jolly Talukder, and Md Aminul Farid, along with the president and general secretary.
Earlier, on September 22, the congress elected a 43-member central committee through delegates’ votes.
