Hasina for single AL candidate
Awami League President Sheikh Hasina has directed her party's grassroots leaders to finalise a single chairman and vice-chairman candidate for each upazila ahead of the upazila parishad polls.
She asked the leaders to select candidates through consensus. If they fail to pick a candidate this way, she advised them to finalise the candidate through voting, party sources said.
Polls will be held in 215 upazilas on February 19 and 117 upazilas on February 27 in the first phase, according to the schedule announced by the Election Commission.
Hasina warned of taking stern organisational action against the party men who would contest the elections violating the party decision, sources told The Daily Star.
Signed by the AL president, letters with these directives was send to party's district and upazila level presidents and general secretaries yesterday, said AL Office Secretary Abdus Sobhan Golap.
Party sources said AL General Secretary Syed Ashraful Islam would also send letters containing similar directives to district and upazila level leaders in a couple of days.
In the letter, Hasina asked her party men to work unitedly and give their best efforts to bring success for the party backed candidates.
Sources also said Hasina, in the letter, directed the leaders to complete the process at least three days before the deadline for withdrawal of candidature.
Insiders said the party high-ups would not interfere in the candidate selection process.
"Under the present political circumstances, upazila election is most important. Centring this polls, your [grassroots leaders] activities will help the government as well as the party to move forward," read a section of the letter.
Stressing the needs for democratic practice within the AL, Hasina viewed that selecting the lone candidate could be a sign of the party unity.
AL candidates emerged victorious in most upazilas in the last upazila election held in 2009.
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