Gono Forum faces rift

Internal conflict in Gono Forum exposed on Saturday as a group of leaders announced the party’s former executive president Subrata Chowdhury as its spokesperson and urged the party president Dr Kamal Hossain to uphold unity and keep the party intact.

The group led by the former general secretary Mostafa Mohsin Montu and executive presidents Subrata Chowdhury and Abu Sayeed took the decision in an ‘extended meeting of the central committee’ at the party central office at Matijheel in the capital.

The extended meeting was convened after March 12 announcement of a convening committee with Dr Kamal as the president and Reza Kibria as the general secretary, excluding names of Montu, Subrata and Abu Sayeed.

The group alleged that the party general secretary Reza Kibria was guiding Dr Kamal to ruin the party.

Reza Kibria told New Age that those blaming him could not flourish the party in the past 26 and that the district committees across the country would remain with the mainstream party.

‘All will be clear within a few weeks…They are dishonouring Dr Kamal,’ he said.

Abu Sayeed in a news briefing after the extended meeting said that the party was now in existential crisis and a few ambitious and conspirators keeping Dr Kamal in the forefront were trying to achieve their personal gains. They did not call any central committee meeting in 10 months after formation of a new committee that triggered grouping in the party, expulsion and counter- expulsion, he said.

Sayeed said that the meeting was adjourned for two weeks and it decided to ask Dr Kamal to consult the party’s senior leaders and to take effective measures to keep the party intact.

‘The meeting also decided that Advocate Subrata Chowdhury will act as the party’s spokesperson,’ he said.

Party insiders said that speakers at the extended meeting blamed Reza Kibria for the situation as he never followed the party constitution. He did not practice democracy, did not hold any central committee meeting after he was elected general secretary 10 months ago, and took decisions unilaterally, they said.

They blamed Kibria for dissolving the central committee and forming the a convening committee to implement the agenda of vested groups and ruin the party, they said.

Asked whether they accepted the announced convening committee, Mostafa Mohsin Montu said that the committee was formed undemocratically and without following the party constitution. Reza Kibria is the self-declared general secretary of the party, he said.

Party insiders said that the party elected Kamal Hossain as the president and Reza Kibria as the general secretary in a special council session on April 26, 2019. Distance between a group of senior leaders and Reza Kibria, who joined the party before December 30, 2018 national elections, increased over their style of works, they added.

They said that the senior leaders could not accept Reza as he hardly came to the party office rather used to call in the leaders for meetings at his residence and the senior leaders did not respond to his call.

Problems in the party were exposed first in early February as Reza Kibria on January 30 issued show cause notices to Khan Siddique, Latiful Bari Hamim and Helal Uddin for breaching party discipline. Few days after, Latiful Bari announced that they had relieved Reza from duties for crating division in the party.

On March 2, the party’s then joint general secretary Moshtaque Ahmed expelled Helal Uddin, Hamim, Siddique and Abdul Hasib Chowdhury. The expelled four on March 3 expelled Reza Kibria, vice-presidents Mohsin Rashid and Shafiqullah and Moshtaque Ahmed.

On March 4, a press release signed by Dr Kamal announced the dissolution of the party central committee.

News Courtesy: www.newagebd.net