Jamaat sets mayor contestants under govt pressure: BNP

BNP, Jamaat at odds

Field separate candidates in 35 municipalities

The main opposition party BNP and its main partner in the 20-party alliance, Jamaat-e-Islami, have still not finalised their common mayoral candidates in at least 35 municipalities and have fielded separate party candidates, despite only two days being left for the withdrawal of candidature.
Some BNP leaders alleged that Jamaat has fielded its candidates as independent contestants under pressure from the ruling party leaders to split the anti-Awami League vote bank.
The issue came up for discussion in the BNP standing committee meeting on Thursday night, they said.
Talking to The Independent, Standing Committee Member Lt Gen (Retd) Mahbubur Rahman yesterday acknowledged that the matter was indeed discussed in the meeting.
“The fielding of separate candidates by Jamaat may be part of various tactics employed by the ruling party,” he said.
Some BNP leaders alleged that Jamaat has neither given any list of its candidates to BNP nor made contact with party leaders. Many of them, however, expressed hope that local leaders of both parties would be able to sort out their communication problems before withdrawal of nominations on Sunday. Some BNP leaders consider inability of Jamaat leaders to contact BNP as suspicious and a move to put pressure on BNP at the last moment to gain maximum benefit.
Jamaat sources however claimed that they have handed the list of party candidates to BNP Chairperson, Khaleda Zia on Tuesday. “Jamaat is bargaining with BNP to have at least 30 mayoral posts against its 35 valid candidates,” said a mid-level Jamaat leader. He expressed hope that the problem of finalising common candidates will be resolved within a couple of days with intervention of the BNP Chief.
However, Jamaat’s independent candidate for Sitakunda municipality Tawhidul Haque Chowdhury has rejected the allegation that they have submitted nominations under government pressure.
“No decision has yet been taken on fielding a common candidate of the 20-party alliance. Our leaders are talking to the alliance partners and we hope that a proper decision will come by Sunday,” he said. Some BNP leaders said their candidates might face problems as Jamaat has fielded strong candidates in some municipalities, where the party has a good chance to win.
The BNP candidates in these towns will have to fight the Jamaat candidates along with the ruling party unless the 20-party alliance members manage to select a common candidate before the nomination withdrawal.  In some cases, they would have to face a straightforward contest with the Jamaat candidate, sources said.
BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia has the list of Jamaat candidates and the party is trying to sort out the problems within a couple of days in a bid to support each others’ candidates, meeting sources added.
The BNP chairperson has taken up the responsibility of sorting out the issues on a case by case basis while central leaders are also talking to Jamaat leaders. Khaleda Zia would resolve the problems herself if the party leaders fail to do it, meeting sources said.
Despite this, many leaders are apprehensive whether the issue of withdrawal of Jamaat’s mayor candidates could be resolved within the deadline.
“We are trying to sort out problems with local Jamaat leaders to field a common candidate in each municipality,” said BNP Joint Secretary General Mohammed Shajahan.
Replying to a question, the BNP leader, who is involved in the electioneering process, said he does not know whether Jamaat has handed any list of its candidates to BNP. Assistant Publicity Secretary Imran Saleh Prince also said that the BNP is trying to resolve the problem of selecting a common candidate with assistance from local leaders of both parties. “We want to field a suitable mayoral candidate in each municipality irrespective of party affiliation so that our candidates can sweep the Dec 30 polls by defeating ruling party candidates,” he said.
The BNP has not fielded any mayoral candidate in Bheramara municipality in Kustia to accommodate Jatiya Party(Zafar) candidate Kazi Zafar. Similarly, the party has not fielded any mayoral candidate in Satkania, Chittagong, to accommodate a LDP candidate. Both Jatiya Party and LDP are components of the BNP-led 20-party alliance.
Out of 233 municipalities, BNP has fielded mayoral candidates in 229, leaving two mayoral posts for its allies, and did not field mayoral candidates in two others.
The Election Commission (EC) has cancelled nominations of 12 BNP mayoral candidates, out of whom, one has got his candidature back upon appeal before the commission.
Jamaat has no official candidate because of the cancellation of its registration by the EC but it has fielded 44 candidates as independent. Of the 44, EC has declared candidature of nine invalid.

 

Jamaat sets mayor contestants under govt pressure: BNP

BNP, Jamaat at odds

Field separate candidates in 35 municipalities

The main opposition party BNP and its main partner in the 20-party alliance, Jamaat-e-Islami, have still not finalised their common mayoral candidates in at least 35 municipalities and have fielded separate party candidates, despite only two days being left for the withdrawal of candidature. Some BNP leaders alleged that Jamaat has fielded its candidates as independent contestants under pressure from the ruling party leaders to split the anti-Awami League vote bank. The issue came up for discussion in the BNP standing committee meeting on Thursday night, they said. Talking to The Independent, Standing Committee Member Lt Gen (Retd) Mahbubur Rahman yesterday acknowledged that the matter was indeed discussed in the meeting. The fielding of separate candidates by Jamaat may be part of various tactics employed by the ruling party, he said. Some BNP leaders alleged that Jamaat has neither given any list of its candidates to BNP nor made contact with party leaders. Many of them, however, expressed hope that local leaders of both parties would be able to sort out their communication problems before withdrawal of nominations on Sunday. Some BNP leaders consider inability of Jamaat leaders to contact BNP as suspicious and a move to put pressure on BNP at the last moment to gain maximum benefit. Jamaat sources however claimed that they have handed the list of party candidates to BNP Chairperson, Khaleda Zia on Tuesday. Jamaat is bargaining with BNP to have at least 30 mayoral posts against its 35 valid candidates, said a mid-level Jamaat leader. He expressed hope that the problem of finalising common candidates will be resolved within a couple of days with intervention of the BNP Chief. However, Jamaats independent candidate for Sitakunda municipality Tawhidul Haque Chowdhury has rejected the allegation that they have submitted nominations under government pressure. No decision has yet been taken on fielding a common candidate of the 20-party alliance. Our leaders are talking to the alliance partners and we hope that a proper decision will come by Sunday, he said. Some BNP leaders said their candidates might face problems as Jamaat has fielded strong candidates in some municipalities, where the party has a good chance to win. The BNP candidates in these towns will have to fight the Jamaat candidates along with the ruling party unless the 20-party alliance members manage to select a common candidate before the nomination withdrawal. In some cases, they would have to face a straightforward contest with the Jamaat candidate, sources said. BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia has the list of Jamaat candidates and the party is trying to sort out the problems within a couple of days in a bid to support each others candidates, meeting sources added. The BNP chairperson has taken up the responsibility of sorting out the issues on a case by case basis while central leaders are also talking to Jamaat leaders. Khaleda Zia would resolve the problems herself if the party leaders fail to do it, meeting sources said. Despite this, many leaders are apprehensive whether the issue of withdrawal of Jamaats mayor candidates could be resolved within the deadline. We are trying to sort out problems with local Jamaat leaders to field a common candidate in each municipality, said BNP Joint Secretary General Mohammed Shajahan. Replying to a question, the BNP leader, who is involved in the electioneering process, said he does not know whether Jamaat has handed any list of its candidates to BNP. Assistant Publicity Secretary Imran Saleh Prince also said that the BNP is trying to resolve the problem of selecting a common candidate with assistance from local leaders of both parties. We want to field a suitable mayoral candidate in each municipality irrespective of party affiliation so that our candidates can sweep the Dec 30 polls by defeating ruling party candidates, he said. The BNP has not fielded any mayoral candidate in Bheramara municipality in Kustia to accommodate Jatiya Party(Zafar) candidate Kazi Zafar. Similarly, the party has not fielded any mayoral candidate in Satkania, Chittagong, to accommodate a LDP candidate. Both Jatiya Party and LDP are components of the BNP-led 20-party alliance. Out of 233 municipalities, BNP has fielded mayoral candidates in 229, leaving two mayoral posts for its allies, and did not field mayoral candidates in two others. The Election Commission (EC) has cancelled nominations of 12 BNP mayoral candidates, out of whom, one has got his candidature back upon appeal before the commission. Jamaat has no official candidate because of the cancellation of its registration by the EC but it has fielded 44 candidates as independent. Of the 44, EC has declared candidature of nine invalid.