AL-Led Electoral Alliance: Seat sharing put on hold for now

Jatiya Party and other parties of the Awami League-led alliance would now field MP candidates separately, leaving the seat-sharing issue to be solved later, as the deadline for filing nomination papers expires tomorrow.

The AL now plans to solve the seat-sharing issue before December 9, the last day for withdrawal of candidature for the December 30 national election.

Yesterday, a number of the alliance leaders, however, told The Daily Star that AL backtracked on its decision to make public the list of alliance candidates fearing that leaders deprived of tickets could join arch-rival BNP and Jatiya Oikyafront.

That would be embarrassing for the AL-led alliance and it was the reason for the AL making a strategic decision, they said.

They said according to "strategic reason", aspirants of all other components of the alliance would file nomination papers before the deadline.

The discussion on seat sharing would resume after tomorrow.

Ruling AL had a series of meetings with its allies to finalise seat-sharing but could not get it done as partners, particularly JP, were firm on their demands for seats. 

On several occasions, top leaders of the alliance said they would make public the final list of alliance candidates by yesterday.

AL General Secretary Obaidul Quader on Sunday said they would reveal the list at 3:00pm yesterday through a joint press conference of alliance partners at the AL President Sheikh Hasina's Dhanmondi office.

The party yesterday held a press conference only to say that they were deferring the discloser.

“We have changed our earlier decision [to disclose names of the nominees]. Due to tactical and technical reasons, we have decided to make public the list of the alliance candidates after scrutiny of nomination papers [on December 2],” Quader said at the press conference.

He said they made the decision to avert possible misunderstandings with alliance partners. He reiterated that the AL would share 65 to 70 seats with its partners.

“Election is a game of strategy. We want to remain in an advantageous position,” he said.

He asked the media not to make public names of alliance nominees before the alliance officially reveals them “to avoid confusion and embarrassment”.

According to Quader, AL aspirants who got nomination papers on Sunday would start filing them today. Aspirants of AL-led 14-party alliance and Jatiya Party would also submit their nomination papers from today, he said.

An hour and a half after the press conference, JP Secretary General Ruhul Amin Hawlader at party chief HM Ershad's Banani office said around 200 JP aspirants were ready to file their nominations papers in equal number of constituencies.

The party yesterday started handing out nomination letters to its aspirants from party chief's office.

Echoing Quader's statement, he said the list of alliance nominees would be finalised after the end of nomination paper scrutiny.

The JP secretary general said there might be some seats in which both AL and JP aspirants could run.

A JP presidium member requesting not to be named said, “You have seen a number of AL leaders join the Gonoforum and the BNP as they were not given AL tickets. The Awami League didn't make public the list of grand alliance nominees today [yesterday] to stop such incidents happening again.”

Two leaders of alliance partners -- Workers Party and JSD (Inu) – agreed with the JP presidium member's view.

About seat-sharing, a JP leader close to HM Ershad said the AL had agreed to give them 45 seats but the JP boss was pressing AL for five to six more.

The AL on Sunday handed over nomination letters to its candidates to contest in 248 seats. Multiple AL candidates were nominated in eight constituencies. The party also nominated candidates in five constituencies where there are JP incumbents.

MP aspirants of Workers Party, both factions of Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal, and other components of the 14-party alliance and Juktofront would start filing nomination papers from today, party leaders told The Daily Star. Around 34 aspirants of Workers Party, 45 of JSD factions, and 50 of Juktofront are likely to submit nomination papers, sources said.