NCP-Jamaat alliance ready for polls, candidates to be announced within days: Nahid Islam

National Citizen Party (NCP) convener Nahid Islam has said that the Jamaat–NCP alliance has already begun election campaigns while other alliances are still facing ambiguity and disorder over seat sharing.

The newly formed alliance is ready for the upcoming polls, the NCP leader added.

In response to a query over seat negotiation, Nahid Islam said an official announcement on how many seats the NCP alliance will contest will be made within the next couple of days.

He added that internal preparations have been completed and only the announcement remains.

Nahid Islam made the remarks while speaking to newspersons after a meeting with an election observer delegation led by European Union Chief Election Observer Ivars Ijabs at Hotel InterContinental in the capital on Saturday afternoon.

The NCP convener also commented that there is a lack of trust among political parties over the existence of a level playing field in the country.

He alleged that providing state facilities and protocol to a particular political party is sending a message of administrative bias, which could lead to uneven situation in the future.

“We believe that by officially extending special facilities, especially protocol, to a particular political party, a kind of signalling is taking place. This can obstruct the level playing field and create an uneven situation. Because at various levels of the administration, it sends a message about which side the government is on,” he added.

He also alleged a tendency within the media to tilt towards one side.

“We are seeing various kinds of negative or false news about the NCP in the mainstream media. In particular, this is being done in a targeted manner by a few outlets. Our expectation is that equal opportunity is ensured both administratively and in the media. We have repeatedly raised this issue with the government and the election commission,” he said.

On loan defaulters contesting the election, Nahid Islam said many such candidates have been initially declared eligible. Despite the number being higher, only a few have been excluded. He demanded a tougher stance from the election commission in this regard.

Nahid Islam said the European Union will send a large observer mission to monitor the upcoming parliamentary election. The EU wants the election to be free, competitive and credible so that a democratic transfer of power can take place smoothly after the results are announced. For this, the organisation has sought cooperation from all political parties.

On the security situation, Nahid Islam said the killing of Inqilab Moncho convener Sharif Osman Bin Hadi has spread fear among the candidates.

“As the perpetrators have yet to be arrested, insecurity persists", he added.