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The ruling BNP looks to fill vacant posts across its central and affiliated committees through internal promotions, ahead of local government elections scheduled to begin in phases from 12 November, according to party sources.
Most of the vacancies arose from deaths, expulsions and promotions to higher party positions, according to party insiders.
Three of the 19 posts on the National Standing Committee, the BNP’s highest policymaking body, remain vacant. The committee shapes the party’s political, economic and organisational policy, selects candidates for national elections and by-elections, and resolves internal disputes.
Party Chairman and Prime Minister Tarique Rahman is weighing candidates for the three seats, several senior leaders said.
Sources inside the party named five previous advisers to the late BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia as contenders: Shamsuzzaman Dudu, Abdul Awal Mintoo, Asaduzzaman Ripon, Mohammad Shahjahan and Joynal Abedin Farroque.
The central committee also carries 35 designated vice-chairman posts, whose holders sit on the National Executive Committee and assist the chairperson and standing committee from the central to the grassroots level.
Party leaders said the number of active vice-chairmen fluctuates as posts fall vacant through death, resignation or reassignment.
The Chairperson’s Advisory Council, formed with 81 members at the BNP’s national council on 19 March 2016 and later expanded to 85, currently has nine vacancies, the party’s latest chart shows.
The council advises the party chief, reviews proposals and shapes organisational initiatives.
At least 75 of the 300 posts on the National Executive Committee, which implements decisions and manages party affairs nationwide, are vacant, a source at the party’s Nayapaltan office told the Daily Sun on Monday.
Tarique Rahman chaired a Standing Committee meeting at his Gulshan political office on 12 September, where he stressed the need to fill vacant posts across all committees to strengthen organisational activity before the local elections.
Briefing reporters afterwards, Acting Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi said the party had decided to promote lower-ranking leaders to fill posts across all committees, including the central one.
“Many members of our party’s committees have passed away, while others have left the party for various reasons or have been expelled. We have decided, in accordance with the party’s constitution, to promote those holding the next-highest positions to these vacant posts,” he said.
Affiliated bodies await overhaul
The party is also working to reorganise its affiliated and associate bodies, most of which are operating with committees whose tenures have long expired.
Of the BNP’s 11 wings, only the Jatiyatabadi Jubo Dal has a current committee; the other ten have exceeded their three-year constitutional term, in some cases by more than a decade.
At Saturday’s meeting, senior leaders argued that organisational strength would not improve unless vacant posts were filled and expired committees reconstituted.
Tarique Rahman then directed officials to address the issue immediately, a standing committee member present at the meeting said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
A leader of the Jatiyatabadi Jubo Dal said the delay was disrupting leadership continuity from the grassroots to the centre and fuelling frustration among aspirants, particularly after the Election Commission announced the local election schedule on Monday last.
Ahead of the meeting, leaders of the Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal (JCD) and Jatiyatabadi Swechchhasebak Dal called on Tarique Rahman, seeking senior positions.
Several affiliate committees illustrate the backlog.
The JCD’s committee, announced in March 2024 under President Rakibul Islam and General Secretary Nasir Uddin, expired in February this year; the organisation has yet to adopt a full constitution after 48 years.
The Swechchhasebak Dal’s committee, formed in September 2022 under SM Jilani and Rajib Ahsan, expired last September.
The Jatiyatabadi Krishak Dal’s committee, formed in September 2021, expired two years ago.
The Jatiyatabadi Mahila Dal’s committee has run since September 2016, nearly a decade past its due date, while the Jatiyatabadi Muktijoddha Dal and Jatiyatabadi Sramik Dal have not held councils since 2013 and 2014 respectively.
The Jatiyatabadi Matsyajibi Dal’s convening committee was dissolved in September 2024 following the death of its convener, Rafiqul Islam Mahtab, and has not been replaced.
A party source told the Daily Sun that new committees for the affiliated and associate bodies would be announced soon.
Senior leaders said the party risks a widening gap between its leadership and grassroots activists if organisational activity stays inactive while the party holds power.