Confident AL chooses one for one JS seat

Too many aspirant candidates of the Awami League (AL)-led Grand Alliance have submitted their nomination papers for contesting the next polls. The deadline for filing nomination expired yesterday.

The AL and its alliance partners would contest the forthcoming general election under the banner of the Grand Alliance. But over 600 nomination papers have been submitted by leaders of the parties in the alliance against a total of 300 parliamentary seats.

The AL has submitted around 240 nomination papers, while over 350 nomination papers were submitted only by its alliance partners, even though the ruling party had promised to leave 70 seats for them.

Earlier, AL general secretary Obaidul Quader had said they would leave not more than 70 seats to their alliance partners.

However, among the AL-led Grand Alliance partners, the Jatiya Party (JP-Ershad) is getting around 47 parliamentary seats, but around 200 nomination papers have been submitted by the party’s aspirant leaders.

Two other key allies of the AL—Workers party of Bangladesh and two factions of Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JSD)—may get around 10 seats, but around 80 nomination papers have been submitted on behalf of the parties.

AQM Badruddoza Chowdhury-led Jukta Front, whose major component is Bikalpadhara Bangladesh, recently declared its intention to contest the 11th general election under the AL-led Grand Alliance.

The Jukta Front may get over eight seats from the AL, but the front’s aspirant leaders and Bikalpadhara Bangladesh submitted over 50 nomination papers on the last day of submission of nomination papers.

The Bangladesh Tarikat Federation may get only one seat from the AL, but the party leaders submitted about 30 nomination papers yesterday.

Other partners of the AL-led alliance may get only four to five seats, but they too have submitted over 20 nomination papers.

Talking to this correspondent on the issue, the alliance leaders said they submitted extra nominations as the seat-sharing issue will be finalised after December 9, the day of withdrawal of nomination papers.

The AL is yet to publicly announce the names of its candidates, even though it has started distributing nomination letters to the selected party leaders.

The ruling party was supposed to announce the names of the 300 nominated candidates of the AL-led Grand Alliance on Monday. It, however, clarified that the candidature list would be announced on December 9, the last date for the withdrawal of the nomination papers.

Returning officers will scrutinise the papers on December 2.

According to AL insiders, the party high-ups are waiting to gauge the BNP’s nomination strategy and to know who will contest from which constituency before announcing the final list of the Grand Alliance contestants.

The ruling party may even change some nominated candidates, who have already collected party tickets, in a bid to contest against strong BNP candidates, they added.

The Jatiya Sangsad has 300 electoral seats. In the last national election on January 5, 2014, the AL had given only seven seats to the Workers Party, six to the JSD and only two each to the Tarikat Federation and Shamyabadi Dal.

The other partners of the alliance didn’t get any seats.

In the last election, a total of 153 MPs were elected uncontested. Of them, 127 were from the ruling Awami League. The poll was boycotted by the BNP.

Confident AL chooses one for one JS seat

Too many aspirant candidates of the Awami League (AL)-led Grand Alliance have submitted their nomination papers for contesting the next polls. The deadline for filing nomination expired yesterday. The AL and its alliance partners would contest the forthcoming general election under the banner of the Grand Alliance. But over 600 nomination papers have been submitted by leaders of the parties in the alliance against a total of 300 parliamentary seats. The AL has submitted around 240 nomination papers, while over 350 nomination papers were submitted only by its alliance partners, even though the ruling party had promised to leave 70 seats for them. Earlier, AL general secretary Obaidul Quader had said they would leave not more than 70 seats to their alliance partners. However, among the AL-led Grand Alliance partners, the Jatiya Party (JP-Ershad) is getting around 47 parliamentary seats, but around 200 nomination papers have been submitted by the partys aspirant leaders. Two other key allies of the ALWorkers party of Bangladesh and two factions of Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JSD)may get around 10 seats, but around 80 nomination papers have been submitted on behalf of the parties. AQM Badruddoza Chowdhury-led Jukta Front, whose major component is Bikalpadhara Bangladesh, recently declared its intention to contest the 11th general election under the AL-led Grand Alliance. The Jukta Front may get over eight seats from the AL, but the fronts aspirant leaders and Bikalpadhara Bangladesh submitted over 50 nomination papers on the last day of submission of nomination papers. The Bangladesh Tarikat Federation may get only one seat from the AL, but the party leaders submitted about 30 nomination papers yesterday. Other partners of the AL-led alliance may get only four to five seats, but they too have submitted over 20 nomination papers. Talking to this correspondent on the issue, the alliance leaders said they submitted extra nominations as the seat-sharing issue will be finalised after December 9, the day of withdrawal of nomination papers. The AL is yet to publicly announce the names of its candidates, even though it has started distributing nomination letters to the selected party leaders. The ruling party was supposed to announce the names of the 300 nominated candidates of the AL-led Grand Alliance on Monday. It, however, clarified that the candidature list would be announced on December 9, the last date for the withdrawal of the nomination papers. Returning officers will scrutinise the papers on December 2. According to AL insiders, the party high-ups are waiting to gauge the BNPs nomination strategy and to know who will contest from which constituency before announcing the final list of the Grand Alliance contestants. The ruling party may even change some nominated candidates, who have already collected party tickets, in a bid to contest against strong BNP candidates, they added. The Jatiya Sangsad has 300 electoral seats. In the last national election on January 5, 2014, the AL had given only seven seats to the Workers Party, six to the JSD and only two each to the Tarikat Federation and Shamyabadi Dal. The other partners of the alliance didnt get any seats. In the last election, a total of 153 MPs were elected uncontested. Of them, 127 were from the ruling Awami League. The poll was boycotted by the BNP.