UNB, Dhaka:

BNP has inducted its vice chairmen Maj (retd) Hafiz Uddin Ahmed and Dr AZM Zahid Hossain into the party’s standing committee, the highest policymaking body.

BNP Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi came up with the announcement at a press conference at BNP’s Nayapaltan central office on Friday afternoon.

With the fresh appointment of the duo, the total number of the BNP standing committee members now has risen to 16, reports UNB.

The standing committee consists of 19 posts, 17 of which were filled after the party’s sixth national council on March 19, 2016.

On August 8, 2016, the party announced its full list of standing committee members, inducting Mirza Fakhrul, Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury and Salahuddin Ahmed into it, four and a half months after the council.

Of the 17-stading committee members, ASM Hannan Shah, MK Anwar and Tariqul Islam and Moudud Ahmed died at different times. Another standing committee member Mahbubur Rahman reportedly resigned from his post and remain inactive in politics.

Later on June 19, 2019, BNP also included its vice chairmen Selima Rahman and Iqbal Hasan Mahmud Tuku in the standing committee.

They current standing committee members include Khaleda Zia, Tarique Rahman, Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain, Zamiruddin Sircar, Mirza Abbas, Rafiqul Islam Mia (sick and inactive), Gayeshwar Chandra Roy, Abdul Moueen Khan, Nazrul Islam Khan, Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury, Salahuddin Ahmed, Selima Rahman, Iqbal Hasan Mahmud Tuku, Maj (retd) Hafiz Uddin Ahmed and Dr AZM Zahid Hossain.

Three posts in the party’s standing committee still remain vacant.