Obaidul: Communal forces, next election major challenges

By Mohammad Abu Bakar Siddique in Dhaka Tribune, Mar 8, 207
Awamil League General Secretary Obaidul Quader on Tuesday said communal forces and the next general polls are the two major challenges for the ruling party.
He said the communal forces still existed and the Awami League wanted to win the next parliamentary election.
“They [communal forces] are working undercover very actively in the country and can launch sabotage at any moment. It would be wrong to think that there is no such evil forces operating currently,” Obaidul said at a party programme held at Dhaka’s Engineers’ Institute marking the 46th anniversary of Bangabandhu’s historic March 7 speech.
“We should not take them [communal forces] lightly,” he said, adding that the party had to remain prepared to fight them.
He urged the party men to be united and organised ahead of the election.
On a separate note, he criticised the party’s leaders and activists, saying: “We need more activists, but everyone wants to be a leader.
“Let us all become activists under the leadership of Sheikh Hasina.”
Obaidul said that the AL-backed candidates, in the upazila elections, lost to the BNP-backed aspirants because the ruling party had more than one contestant.
According to him, Awami League’s associate organisations that have formed new committees lately seem to be more motivated than before.
He suggested that the affiliate bodies should not form “pocket committees” through controversial selection process.
Referring to BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir’s recent allegation that the AL forcibly wanted the party to run for the next polls, Obaidul said: “How come would Awami League do that? What is the benefit of doing so?
“The BNP has to contest in the election out of its own courage since it is related to the party’s existence.”
Obaidul also came down hard on the BNP for not observing the March 7 speech anniversary.
“Without marking the day, how can BNP claim to be a party believing in the spirit of Liberation War?” he said, accusing the BNP of distorting the country’s history every time it took office.http://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/politics/2017/03/08/obaidul-communal-forces-next-election-major-challenges/