Bangladesh News

Awami League (AL) will not share seats with its grand alliance partners in the next national elections in constituencies where candidates of those parties do not have much possibility of winning.

Following directives of party President Sheikh Hasina, an AL expert team headed by AL advisory council member HT Imam has been analysing the alliance candidates’ possibility of winning in their constituencies for making the final decision on seat sharing.

Meantime, AL’s allies including Jatiya Party and Liberal Democratic Party have handed over separate lists of their prospective candidates to AL.

“We shall refrain from giving nominations to those grand alliance candidates who do not have much possibility of winning,” AL presidium member Matia Chowdhury said after a meeting of AL presidium, the party’s highest policy making body, yesterday.

Talking to The Daily Star she said, “We shall make the final decision on it in a day or two after reviewing the nominations.”

Various issues including seat sharing with the grand alliance components, reviewing nominations of AL candidates in different constituencies, party manifesto, election campaign and training of the party’s polling agents across the country were discussed at the meeting at Hasina’s political office in the capital’s Dhanmondi.

The AL presidium members accused the Election Commission (EC) of favouring a certain political party through misinterpretation of ‘electoral laws’ in the name of creating a level playing field.

Although the Representation of People Order (RPO) clearly states that recommendations from grassroots-level committees are mandatory to nominate party candidates, an Election Commissioner said ‘it is not mandatory’, AL spokesperson Syed Ashraful Islam said while briefing journalists after the meeting.

Ashraf said if grassroots leaders of a certain party recommend the name of a nomination seeker of that party, he or she will not be able to contest polls from another party. But now the EC says such a nomination aspirant will be allowed to contest polls from another party, he said.

“Either the Election Commission is misinterpreting the Representation of People Order or provoking certain political parties into violating the electoral laws,” Ashraf said.

“Frequent change in decisions by Election Commission has made holding of the parliamentary elections uncertain,” added the AL leader.

The meeting reviewed the party manifesto, which is almost prepared, and decided to go for “positive” election campaign with a strong stance against militancy.

The presidium also decided to review party nominations in over 50 constituencies and train its polling agents across the country.

After the meeting, a delegation of Zaker Party, a grand alliance component, led by its Chairman Mostafa Amir Faisal Mozaddedi met Hasina.

ALCWC SITS ON DEC 5
AL central working committee will sit on December 5. The party manifesto will be placed before it for approval.

AL chief Hasina will announce the election manifesto at a city hotel on the last date for withdrawing candidacy.