Seat-sharing negotiation: Jamaat alliance faces rift as Charmonai Pir, Mamunul Haque not happy

Uncertainty has arisen over whether Syed Muhammad Rezaul Karim’s Islami Andolan Bangladesh and Allama Mamunul Haque’s Bangladesh Khelafat Majlis will be included in the seat-sharing arrangement with Jamaat-e-Islami.

This uncertainty stems from discontent over seat Sharing.

However, after meeting with the top leaders of the remaining 10 parties, Jamaat intends to finalise the seat-sharing agreement and announce it at a press conference this Wednesday afternoon.

Party sources and on-the-ground reports indicate that many leaders travelled from the Islami Andolan central office in Purana Paltan, Dhaka, to a madrasah in Rampura on Tuesday afternoon.

Leaders from across the country also arrived there by car. After the Maghrib prayer in the evening, the party’s Shura Council meeting took place at the madrasah.

During the meeting, leaders from both the central and grassroots levels expressed dissatisfaction regarding several issues in reaching a consensus with Jamaat.

According to party sources, several party members were stationed in front of the gate on the ground floor of the eight-story madrasah late Tuesday night to prevent outsiders from accessing the upper floors.

The closed-door meeting began after the evening prayer, with a break for the Isha prayer in the middle. Leaders resumed discussions afterward. Until around 12:15 am, some Islami Andolan leaders were seen standing separately in different areas on the ground floor, discussing seat-sharing matters.

Even around 11:45 pm, more leaders were seen arriving by car to join the meeting. The meeting reportedly concluded after 1:00 am.

Party sources say that, following the mass uprising, Islami Andolan Bangladesh was the first to begin working on a “one-box” voting policy, under which the parties reaching an understanding would field only one candidate in each constituency.

Initially, Bangladesh Khelafat Majlis, Khelafat Majlis, Bangladesh Khelafat Andolan and the Bangladesh Nizam-e-Islam Party joined the discussions with Islami Andolan.

Jamaat-e-Islami later joined the discussion as the sixth party. Subsequently, the Jatiya Ganatantrik Party (JAGPA) and the Bangladesh Development Party (BDP) also entered the seat-sharing talks.

Leaders of the parties say that Jamaat later took certain decisions unilaterally, which were not well received by the other parties. For instance, Jamaat held separate meetings with the National Citizen Party (NCP), the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and the Amar Bangladesh Party (AB Party) to bring them into the seat-sharing arrangement, without informing the other parties beforehand.

Thereafter, dissatisfaction emerged within Islami Andolan over the number of seats. From the outset, the party wanted to contest more than 100 constituencies. However, based on negotiations, it gradually reduced its demand.

Most recently, it sought more than 50 seats, while Jamaat was willing to concede only 40. Many leaders of Islami Andolan are unwilling to accept this.

Islami Andolan also believes that, while discussions were ongoing with 10 parties, Jamaat-e-Islami’s ameer, Shafiqur Rahman, met Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) chairperson Tarique Rahman and spoke in favour of forming a national government. Many within Islami Andolan view this as duplicity.

Although a meeting of Islami Andolan’s Shura Council concluded after midnight yesterday, no final decision was reached. The responsibility for taking a decision has been handed over to the Majlis-e-Amela, the party’s highest policymaking body.

A meeting of the Majlis-e-Amela may be held today, Wednesday, after which a decision on whether to remain in the seat-sharing arrangement may be announced.

At around 1:30 am on Wednesday, a central leader of Islami Andolan spoke to this correspondent over phone.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, he said that a few days ago a key party involved in the seat-sharing talks had informed Islami Andolan that the five parties initially involved in the discussions would contest the election under a mutual understanding, and that this should be conveyed to Jamaat. However, the discussion did not progress further.

The Islami Andolan leader said that the issue of seat-sharing depends entirely on the decision of the party’s ameer, Charmonai Pir. If he wishes to remain in the arrangement, the recommendations of the Shura Council or the Majlis-e-Amela will carry little weight. Conversely, if he does not wish to remain, no agreement will be possible.

Speaking to Prothom Alo over the phone on Wednesday morning, Islami Andolan presidium member Ashraf Ali Akon said that a meeting of the Majlis-e-Amela is scheduled to be held after Zuhr prayers today, after which the party’s position will be announced.

Meanwhile, several leaders of Bangladesh Khelafat Majlis, led by Mamunul Haque, said that the party held a meeting with Jamaat on Tuesday.

Although Bangladesh Khelafat Majlis had sought 25 to 30 seats, Jamaat was willing to concede a maximum of 20. If the desired number of seats is not granted, the party wants to keep its candidates open in those constituencies where seats are not conceded.

At around 11:00 pm Thursday, Mamunul Haque told Prothom Alo by phone that the discussions are progressing well. However, if agreement cannot be reached in some constituencies, those seats will be left open, in line with the overall understanding.

However, one leader of the party said last night that a final seat-sharing agreement with Jamaat has not yet been reached. A meeting may be held on Wednesday. If the agreement is not finalised, the alliance may not survive.

At around 10:00 am today, Bangladesh Khelafat Majlis secretary general Jalaluddin Ahmed told Prothom Alo over phone that discussions with Jamaat are at the final stage and that they do not want the alliance to break.

He, however, acknowledged some tension is ongoing between Jamaat and Islami Andolan. If Islami Andolan withdraws from the alliance, Bangladesh Khelafat Majlis will also have to reconsider whether it should remain.

Prothom Alo also spoke to several Jamaat leaders last night, who expressed optimism that a seat-sharing agreement would ultimately be reached and that all parties would remain together. However, attempts to contact four top Jamaat leaders this morning were unsuccessful.

Meanwhile, Jamaat has announced that it will hold a press conference this afternoon at the diploma engineers institute to make a final announcement on seat-sharing among the 11 parties. The party said senior leaders of all 11 parties are expected to be present.

The 13th parliamentary election is scheduled to be held on 12 February.

Prior to this, eight Islamic parties had jointly carried out programmes demanding proportional representation in parliamentary elections and a separate referendum.

These parties were: Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, Islami Andolan Bangladesh, Bangladesh Khelafat Majlis, Khelafat Majlis, Bangladesh Khelafat Andolan, Bangladesh Nizam-e-Islam Party, the Jatiya Ganatantrik Party (JAGPA) and the Bangladesh Development Party (BDP).

They later decided to contest the election together through a seat-sharing arrangement. Subsequently, the National Citizen Party (NCP), the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and the Amar Bangladesh Party (AB Party) also joined the understanding.