AL to leave 65 to 70 seats for allies

The road transport and bridges minister made the remarks in response to questions from the media about the party’s preparations for the elections at the Secretariat on Sunday.

“We have almost finalised the list of candidates,” he said. “We are just polishing it at this point. We will announce our full list in the next four to five days.”

Awami League President Sheikh Hasina has sent the Election Commission with all of the party’s allies who plan to compete under the boat symbol. A total of sixteen parties are included in the list, eight of which are registered.

The registered parties are JaSaD, the Workers Party, the Samyabadi Dal, the Ganatantri Party, the National Awami Party – NAP, the Tarikat Federation and the Jatiya Party-JP.

The unregistered parties are the Gana Azadi League, the Ganatantrik Majdur League, the Communist Kendra, Bangladesh Samajtantrik Dal, the Islami Front, Bangladesh JaSaD, the Krishak Sramik Party and the Trinamool BNP.

The unregistered parties cannot compete in the elections, but they can run under the ticket of a registered party and adopt their symbol for the polls. As such the Election Commission will treat them as candidates from registered parties.

The Jukto Front and Bikalpadhara have also written to the Election Commission to run under the boat symbol.

The party said that they are still in talks with the Grand Alliance about joining. If the two sides reach an agreement, candidates from the Jukto Front and Bikalpadhara will use the boat symbol.

However the Jatiya Party, which is the current opposition party in parliament, will use their plough symbol for the polls, despite their alliance with the Awami League.

Jatiya Party Chairman HM Ershad had said that his party would join the Awami League if the BNP came to the polls, but would contest all 300 seats if they did not.

After the BNP’s announcement, he said:

“We have sent the Awami League a list of 100 seats. We are expecting to receive the approval for about 70.”

The Awami League had led a 14-party alliance with the Jatiya Party during the 9th parliamentary election.

During that election the Awami League had put forward 264 candidates and the Jatiya Party had contested 49 seats. The Awami League won 230 seats and the Jatiya Party 27 in that election.

The Awami League had put forward 247 candidates for the 10th parliamentary election, which the BNP had boycotted. The Jatiya Party had eventually contested the election separately, putting forward 86 candidates. The Awami League won 234 seats, while the Jatiya Party took 34.

According to the announced schedule, the 11th parliamentary election is to be held on Dec 30. Submission forms for candidates will be accepted until Nov 28. They will be scrutinised on Dec 2 and candidates will have until Dec 9 to withdraw. The alliances will have to decide on the allocation of constituencies before then.

“The matter is almost finished,” said Obaidul Quader. “We are now discussing the allowance. First we will look through their lists. We should have them by today or tomorrow. Then we will sit officially. We can then announce the alliance-based breakdown within four to five days.”

The strength of ally candidates will be assessed, he said.

Quader added that Mashrafe Bin Mortaza will be running for the Narail seat, which would mean the withdrawal of a current Workers Party MP.

“Our leader has instructed us to leave 65 to 70 seats for our alliance partners,” he said. “If we find that there are more candidates who can win their constituencies, we will allocate more. But we could also decrease that number if it seems they will not win the seats. We will not hesitate in trimming any of our own nominees if they are unelectable.”

“The Workers Party candidate will have to drop out if Mashrafe is nominated. But we do not plan to force elected representatives from the 14-Party Alliance to drop out. We must keep them if their position is not tenuous.”

“But, if we find their position is very weak then they cannot be given the candidacy, no matter if they are from the 14-Party Alliance or even if they are Jatiya Party.”