Obaidul Quader was elected as the general secretary of the party for the second term.

They will lead the party for the next three years.

“You (the councilors) have to consider my age,” Sheikh Hasina said in an instant reaction, and sought everyone’s cooperation to run the party.

She also congratulated Quader.

The two were elected at the second-day session of the two-day national council of the Awami League at the Institute of Engineers, Bangladesh in the city on Saturday.

Some 7,500 councillors of 79 organisational districts joined the session to elect the new leadership. A three-member election commission headed by AL advisory council member Advocate Yusuf Hossain Humayun as the Chairman elected the new leadership of the ruling party.

Advocate Abdul Matin Khasru proposed Sheikh Hasina’s name as AL President on behalf of councillors and Pijush Kanti Bhattacharya seconded it. Chairman of Election Commission Advocate Yusuf Hossain announced Hasina elected as AL president.

Jahangir Kabir Nanak proposed the name of Obaidul Quader as AL’s General Secretary and Abdur Rahman supported it.

Sheikh Hasina has been at the helm of Awami League since 1981.

On the first day of the party’s 21st triennial council, she recalled how she struggled and rejuvenated the party when it was divided.

“We suffered splits among us on one or two occasions even after that (her return to Bangladesh in 1981). I rejuvenated the party after the rifts. I roamed throughout the country and revitalised it gradually. So, today Bangladesh Awami League is the biggest and strongest organisation in Bangladesh,” she said.