Seat-sharing saga ends with AL leaving 26 seats for JaPa
JaPa to contest with their party’s own electoral symbol
After various dramas, the ruling Awami League has decided to leave 26 to its political ally, the Jatiya Party, and six seats to its 14-Party Alliance partners.
As the candidature of five candidates nominated by Awami League has been canceled by the Election Commission, the ruling party has announced candidates in 263 constituencies leaving the five them out of the calculation for the 300 available seats.
The JaPa will contest with their party's electoral symbol "plow" and alliance partners with the AL's boat symbol.
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The nomination of Awami League candidates has been withdrawn from the conceded seats for allies yesterday, the last day of withdrawal of nominations from these seats.
Senior alliance leaders, however, feel that independent candidates of AL in most of the left out 32 seats are a major obstacle for their candidates to win.
Awami League Office Secretary Biplab Barua yesterday submitted an official party letter to the EC, formally requesting the withdrawal of AL candidates.
The letter, signed by AL President and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, states, "The Election Commission was informed that Bangladesh Awami League will participate in the 12th National Parliament Elections as a party and alliance."
The letter mentioned that the parties in the alliance can use the electoral symbol of AL or the party symbol of their respective parties.
The ruling party Awami League earlier disclosed the agreement to allocate six seats to partners of 14-Party Alliance, but the seat distribution discussions with the Jatiya Party caused confusion until Sunday afternoon.
At 4pm on Sunday, the Awami League's central office clarified that they had withdrawn from 25 of the 26 seats initially designated for the JaPa, leaving only Narayanganj-5 constituency due to the absence of an AL candidate.
Jatiya Party chairman's adviser Masroor Mawla told The Business Standard, "We have not received any letter like the one sent by AL to the EC regarding seat settlement. But it is possible that AL may withdraw candidates for JaPa candidates."
He also said the AL was offering seats due to pressure of the international community.
With this development, 27 parties are participating in the upcoming national elections scheduled for 7 January. Among them, Five parties are in the elections in alliance with the ruling Awami League
14-Alliance partners dissatisfied
In a significant reduction, AL's alliance partners parties now have less than half the number of seats compared to the previous election, receiving only six this time.
The alliance partners, including Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JSD) and Workers' Party, are dissatisfied with this allocation, especially considering the previous concession of 16 seats in the 11th national election.
JSD president Hasanul Haque Inu said he was disappointed that his seat demand was not met. "We asked Amir Hossain Amu, the coordinator of the alliance, to consider the issue of seat increase. But that didn't happen."
Adding to the complexity, out of the 26 seats initially left for the JaPa, 19 have dominant independent candidates affiliated with AL.
In Kishoreganj-3 seat vacated by the AL, JaPa's Mujibal Haque Chunnu will be contesting against heavyweight independents, such as the PM's former ADC Major (retd) Md Nasimul Haque, Swechasebak League's Labor Affairs Secretary Barrister Golam Kabir Bhuiyan.
Besides, AL heavyweights are running independently in five out of the six seats for the 14-party partners.
Notable instances include JSD President Hasanul Haque Inu competing against Mirpur Upazila Awami League general secretary Syed Kamarul Arefin in Kushtia-2 and former Awami League member Monirul Islam Moni running as an independent candidate against Bangladesh Workers Party's Rashed Khan Menon in Barishal-2.
The conceded seats
Seat which have been left by AL for JaPa are Thakurgaon-3, Nilphamari-3 and 4, Rangpur-1 and 3, Kurigram-1 and 2, Gaibandha-1 and 2, Bogura-2 and 3, Satkhira-2, Patuakhali-1, Barishal-3, Pirojpur-3, Mymensingh-5 and 8, Kishoreganj-3, Manikganj-1, Dhaka-18, Habiganj-1, Brahmanbaria-2, Feni-3, Chittagong-5 and 8 and Narayanganj-5 constituencies.
Among these, there was no Awami League candidate in Narayanganj-5.
Among the 14-alliance partners, Workers' Party got two seats, JSD got three and Jatiya Party (JP) one. Awami League has left Bogura-4, Rajshahi-2, Kushtia-2, Barisal-2, Pirojpur-2 and Lakshmipur-4 seats for them.
