Hasina, who will be 60 this September, gave the proposal through her special aide, according to which no leaders above 60 will be allowed to remain a member of the AL Presidium and Central Working Committee.

"All leaders above the age of 60 will be accommodated in the advisory council of the party," Dr Hasan Mahmud, the aide, told the press after a meeting with Hasina.

Hasan, also AL environment affairs secretary, said the party chief is thinking about the matter and will start discussions after the restriction on indoor politics is lifted.

Talking to The Daily Star yesterday, a young AL leader said Hasina has already asked younger party leaders to make preparation for the leadership.

"Sheikh Hasina is sincerely desiring a meaningful reform in the party and she wants to encourage young leadership for better future of the party," said the leader, who keeps regular communication with Hasina.

A few AL leaders observed that through this proposal Hasina has finally disclosed her thoughts on leaving the post of party chief, which she has been holding since 1981.

The AL chief had earlier announced retirement from politics at the age of 57, but refrained from relinquishing in the wake of election debacle in 2001 and repression of the AL leaders and workers following the polls.

Now, if her proposal is implemented, apart from Hasina herself, the AL general secretary and most of the presidium members will also have to quit from their present posts as they all are already above 60.

A few such leaders yesterday reacted sharply and opposed Hasina's proposal while younger leaders welcomed it.

"Does the idea exist in the constitution of any political party? It is an absurd proposal. Politics cannot be controlled by age limit," said a senior AL leader.

AL Presidium Member Matia Chowdhury said the matter is still a proposal and the party council will decide on this.

A few other AL leaders echoed Matia's view.

A young leader, however, described the idea as "nice" for promoting young leadership. "The senior leaders will guide us staying in the advisory council and we will proceed on," he said.

The AL chief's proposal has come at a time when some senior leaders of her party have already been secretly preparing a set of reform proposals. These leaders have been reiterating that they were preparing proposals to curtail the party chief's absolute power and not to allow any leader to simultaneously hold the posts of party president and prime minister.

Upon receiving the proposal unofficially, Hasina said she wanted further amendment to those proposals.

"Not only the party president's post, but no other party position should as well be held by the same person for more than twice. Not only the party chief should be barred from becoming the prime minister, but all central committee office bearers should be prohibited from becoming ministers or state ministers," Hasina told The Daily Star recently.

If Hasina's latest proposal is implemented, only two AL presidium members--Sheikh Fazlul Karim Selim and Kazi Zafarullah--can continue in their posts.

The AL presidium members aged over 60 are Syeda Zohra Tajuddin, Zillur Rahman, Syeda Sajeda Chowdhury, Amir Hossain Amu, Abdur Razzak, Tofail Ahmed, Suranjit Sengupta, Dr Mohiuddin Khan Alamgir, Matia Chowdhury and Ataur Rahman Khan Kaiser.

A few other central leaders including Abul Hasnet Abdullah, Prof Abu Syeed, Asaduzzaman Noor, ABM Mohiuddin Chowdhury, Nurul Islam Nahid, Prof Ali Ashraf, HN Ashiqur Rahman, Akhtaruzzaman Chowdhury are also above 60.

Younger leaders like Obaidul Quader, Syed Ashraful Islam, Mukul Bose, Saber Hossain Chowdhury, Abdul Mannan, Akhteruzzaman, Mahmudur Rahman Manna, Sultan Mohammad Mansur Ahmed, Abdur Rahman, Bir Bahadur, Abdul Mannan Khan, Farukh Khan, Dr Abdur Razzak, Dr Hasan Mahmud, and Dr Dipu Moni will get promotion to the posts of these elder leaders.