The ruling party Awami League has nominated candidates in 298 constituencies for the upcoming national parliament election, but has not yet decided whether to leave any constituencies for its alliance partners.
Being part of a 14-party alliance, the ruling party has also been considering forming a "vote alliance" with other parties, which would involve them agreeing to support each other's candidates in certain constituencies.
The party has not yet made a decision on whether to leave any constituencies for its alliance partners or to contest all 300 constituencies on its own. This decision is likely to depend on whether the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) decides to participate in the election.
If the BNP does not participate, the Awami League may decide to leave some constituencies for its alliance partners in order to avoid being seen as too dominant. However, if the BNP does participate, the Awami League may decide to contest all 300 constituencies in order to maximize its chances of winning.
The deadline to submit nomination papers is Thursday, but the Awami League is taking a slow and deliberate approach to its decision-making process. The party is likely to wait until the last minute to make a final decision on whether to leave any constituencies for its alliance partners.
Several leaders of the Awami League believe that the BNP will take part in the poll. As per the announced schedule, Thursday is the last day to submit nomination papers to the Election Commission. The party's policymakers will begin monitoring the situation on Thursday. It will continue till December 17, the last day of withdrawal of nominations. In the meantime, discussions will continue with the partners of the alliance.
General Secretary of Awami League and Minister of Road Transport and Bridges Obaidul Quader informed that the issue of constituency sharing among the alliance partners will be coordinated after monitoring the situation.
In 2018, the 11th National Assembly elections, the Awami League gave away a total of 31 constituencies to the 14-party alliance and the alternative faction of the Grand Alliance and the Jatiya Party.
Among them, 23 people including Jatiya Party's Rowshan Ershad and GM Quader, three from Workers' Party including Rashed Khan Menon, three from Jasad including Hasanul Haque Inu, two from bikolpo Dhara including Mahi B Chowdhury, Syed Najibul Bashar Maizbhandari of Bangladesh Tarikat Federation and Anwar Hossain Manju of JP became parliamentarians.
But now the situation is different. Awami League has kept only two constituencies vacant out of 300 constituencies for the 12th National Parliament elections.
Awami League has not yet finalized the strategy for the upcoming parliamentary elections. There is also an opportunity to change the nomination till the symbol is allotted. After the deadline for submission of nomination papers on November 30, the formal discussion on constituency settlement will begin.
Regarding constituency settlement within alliance parties, Rashed Khan Menon, president of the Workers' Party, told Bangladesh Pratidin that there is a need for an alliance, and there will be a need for an alliance. Awami League has not yet officially announced anything about the alliance. However, we hope to coordinate with everyone through discussion.
Jasad president Hasanul Haque Inu told Bangladesh Pratidin that we have hope for Awami League that they will hold a bilateral meeting with us as soon as possible after submitting the nomination. The candidate list will be finalized through discussion. The sooner the final decision on this issue comes, the sooner the uncertainty will be removed and the candidates will be able to go to the polls.
(The article was published on print and online versions of The Bangladesh Pratidin on November 29, 2023, and has been rewritten in English by Tanvir Raihan)
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