BSS, Dhaka
The Awami League Parliamentary Party (ALPP) yesterday elected party presidium member Begum Sajeda Chowdhury, MP, as the deputy leader of the House.
Sajeda Chowdhury replaced elderly leader Zillur Rahman who was elected as the country’s 19th president.
A meeting of ALPP in the treasury bench meeting room in the Jatiya Sangsad with Prime Minister and Leader of the House Sheikh Hasina in the chair elected Sajeda Chowdhury as the deputy leader unanimously and bade farewell to Zillur Rahman.
Chief Whip Vice-Principal Abdus Shahid proposed the name of Sajeda Chowdhury in the meeting while AL Spokesman and Joint Secretary General Syed Ashraful Islam supported the proposal.
Speaking on the occasion, senior AL leaders paid tributes to outgoing deputy leader and president-elect Zillur Rahman, and congratulated Sajeda Chowdhury on her election as the new deputy leader of the ALPP.
Zillur Rahman thanked all concerned for their cooperation he received in his long political career.
He said he was in politics for long 60 years and did never deviate from the ideology of the party. “I had sacrificed by life for politics,” he added.
He recalled the situation after the changeover on January 11, 2007 and his efforts to keep the AL united that time.
Talking to journalists after the meeting, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said Zillur Rahman was a devoted leader who worked with Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
His election as the president was both painful and joyous, she said and added it is painful as Awami League would now be deprived of valuable leadership of the veteran leader.
She told a questioner that Zillur Rahman was a devoted political leader and he came in politics from the grassroots. Therefore, he is best suited for the presidency, she added.
Courtesy: nation.ittefaq.com
