B Chy-led LDP jumps on reform bandwagon
Staff Correspondent
Following the examples of BNP, Awami League and Jatiya Party, Prof AQM Badruddoza Chowdhury led Liberal Democratic Party (LDP--Badruddoza) also announced a draft proposal yesterday for reforming the party, which includes a provision of barring any member of the party from holding any party post for more than six years consecutively. LDP (Badruddoza) will make its finalised reform proposal public within the next 15 days, said party President Badruddoza during a discussion meeting in KC Memorial Clinic at Baridhara in the capital. The discussion meeting and a milad mehfil was organised in memory of the late mother of LDP central leader Shakot Hossein Bepari. "According to the reform proposal, no one will be allowed to hold any party post including the post of the president for more than three terms in a row ", said LDP Vice-president Abdur Rashid while revealing the 15-point draft reform proposal. Badruddoza led LDP's party reform proposal came three days after the organisation had split into two factions officially. The other faction of the party is led by Col (retd) Oli Ahmed, retaining the party's original name. The proposal also suggests that the Election Commission should extend financial support to parliamentarian political parties according to their representations in the parliament It stipulates that the party's national committee, executive committee, and district and thana committees will be elected through secret ballots of party representatives in a council, which should be held every two years. All monetary transactions of the party will be conducted through bank accounts which will require joint signatures of the treasurer and the vice-president of the party, the proposal says. Grassroots level leaders will nominate party candidates for national elections, the proposal adds. It also stipulates that if a party member becomes the prime minister, president or a minister in a government, that person will have to relinquish the party post he or she has been holding until that time. Badruddoza, who gave a speech at the event, demanded political reforms in national level also including reforming the parliament, Election Commission and the electoral process. He also proposed that the posts of advisers to governments should be abolished, and said campaign posters of candidates in national elections should be allowed to have photographs of the candidate and of the chief of the party he or she represents. Badruddoza elaborated on the draft reform proposal addressing national issues and suggested that the independence of the Election Commission needs to be ensured. He also proposed more power for the speaker of the parliament and suggested that 100 more seats should be added to the parliament.
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