Jamaat faces challenges over seat allocation as more parties show interest
Jamaat-e-Islami has yet to finalise seat-sharing arrangements with like-minded parties. Meanwhile, the party has begun discussions on seat-sharing with several additional parties.
According to party sources, talks are currently underway with the National Citizen Party (NCP), the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and the Bangladesh Labour Party.
Among these, the NCP is a newly formed party that emerged in the post–mass uprising period. The LDP, JSD and the Labour Party had until recently been partners of the BNP in joint movements.
However, following a breakdown in understanding with the BNP, these parties are now recalculating their political strategies.
Political sources indicate that the failure to finalise seat-sharing arrangements with like-minded parties, combined with discussions to include additional parties, has created tension within the eight-party alliance led by Jamaat.
The core of the crisis revolves around how many seats will be allocated to which party.
However, Jamaat’s naib-e-ameer, Syed Abdullah Mohammad Taher, told Prothom Alo yesterday, Friday that there is no major crisis over seat-sharing. He stated that no party wishes to break the alliance and that solutions will emerge through discussion.
In the post–mass uprising period, Jamaat began discussions on fielding single candidates in all constituencies based on seat-sharing agreements with six parties: Islami Andolan Bangladesh, Bangladesh Khelafat Majlis, Bangladesh Khelafat Andolon, Bangladesh Nezame Islam Party and the Jatiya Ganatantrik Party (JaGaPa).
Subsequently, the Bangladesh Development Party also joined these discussions. Along with Jamaat, these eight parties remained active on the streets for an extended period with unified programmes based on shared demands.
Initially, a preliminary understanding was reached among the eight parties and discussions on seat-sharing progressed gradually. At one stage, each party conducted internal surveys to determine which constituencies should be allocated to whom.
However, complications later arose. In certain constituencies, parties such as Islami Andolan Bangladesh and Khelafat Majlis claimed that their candidates were as qualified as those of Jamaat.
To resolve this, there was a proposal to send a neutral delegation representing all eight parties to those constituencies. Based on survey results and local opinion, the delegation was to finalise a single candidate. However, these discussions did not advance significantly.
*More to follow....