Sheikh Hasina and Obaidul Quader have been reelected as the president and general secretary of Bangladesh Awami League respectively.

The decision was taken today at Awami League's 21st National Council in the capital.

With this, Sheikh Hasina has been elected for ninth time as the president of her party and Quader for the second time.

They will lead the party for the next three years.

All of the Presidium and Advisory Council members of the outgoing committee have retained their posts in the new the committee.

Former shipping minister and labour leader Shajahan Khan has been inducted in the new committee as a presidium member, while two joint secretaries of the previous committee Advocate Jahangir Kabir Nanak and Abdur Rahman have also been promoted as presidium members in the new committee.

The new committee has got two new joint secretaries. They are Information Minister and outgoing committee's Publicity and Publication Secretary Dr Hasan Mahmud and Organizing Secretary AFM Bahauddin Nasim.

The two other joint secretaries of the outgoing body – Mahbub-ul Alam Hanif and Dr Dipu Moni – have once again been given the charge of the same posts.

Organising secretaries of the outgoing committee – Ahmed Hossain, BM Mozammel Haque and Abu Sayeed Al Mahmud Swapan – have remained in the same posts of the new committee while outgoing central committee members SM Kamal Hossain and Mirza Azam have been promoted as organising secretaries of the new committee.

Office secretary of the outgoing committee Dr Abdus Sobhan Golap has been made publicity and publication secretary of the new committee while Barrister Biplib Barua has been promoted to the post of office secretary from deputy office secretary.

Shammi Akter, Delwar Hossain, Engineer Abdus Sabur, Mrinal Kanti Das, Harunur Rashid, Asim Kumar Ukil, Shamsunnahar Chapa, Dr. Rokeya Sultana, Faridunnahar Laily and Sujit Roy Nandi have retained their secretariat posts for International Affairs, Forest and Environment, Science and Technology, Liberation War Affairs, Youth and Sports, Cultural Affairs, Education and Human Resources, Health and Population Affairs, Agriculture and Cooperatives, and Relief and Social Welfare respectively.

The outgoing committee's central members Advocate Nazibullah Hiru and Meena Afroz Chowdhury have been made law affairs and women affairs secretaries respectively in the new committee.

After the announcement of the new committee, the prime minister greeted the AL leaders and workers for reelecting her as the party president and urged them to work sincerely for further strengthening the organization.

Sheikh Hasina said: "I have been leading the party for the last 38 years. So, you (the councilors) would have to consider my age (in the future)."

The AL president sought blessings from all in running the party as their (councilors) aspirations.