AL defers rally, asks govt to step down

The decision came from the AL presidium meeting held with the party's acting president Zillur Rahman in the chair yesterday.

Hasina, who is on an organisational tour of the United States, was scheduled to come back on June 4. But her return will be delayed by a week as she plans to attend the funeral of AL's US unit president Enaetur Rahim.

Rahim died on Thursday.

The presidium condoled the death of Rahim who rose through the ranks to become the unit chief.

The AL decided to hold the rally after the party chief's return in the second week of June.

The meeting expressed concern over deterioration in law and order and said the government failed on all fronts of governance.

"The government has no legitimacy to hold the office anymore," the party resolution said, painting a grim picture of the overall situation.

It referred to recent release of what it termed 'criminals' in the name of dropping political cases, alleging that the government was harbouring them.

Reviewing the overall socio-political and economic situation, the meeting called on the government to step down immediately in national interest.

AL General Secretary Abdul Jalil and presidium members Amir Hossain Amu, Johra Tajuddin, Syeda Sajeda Chowdhury, Tofail Ahmed, Suranjit Sengupta and Matia Chowdhury addressed the meeting.