BNP struggling with seat sharing

The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) is yet to fully overcome the challenge of sharing parliamentary seats with old and new allies for contesting the upcoming general elections.

Partners of the BNP-led 20-party alliance and newly formed Jatiya Oikya Front demanded at least 90 seats. Of them, Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, a component of the 20-party alliance, wants 35 seats, a number the party contested for in the 2008 elections.

Other partners of the alliance demanded 20 seats while the Oikya Front allies sought at least 30-35 seats.

The main opposition party is, however, pondering over sharing 50 seats at best with the allies, the BNP and alliance partners said.

The BNP leaders said a large number of local level leaders, who have been with the party in its ups and downs, are expecting nominations as the party is going to contest the national elections for first time in 10 years.

At the same time, the party policymakers are keeping an eye on the probable candidates of the ruling Bangladesh Awami League and its allies.

Amid all these equations, the BNP could not finalise its party candidates until now, the leaders say.

They said they have completed taking interviews of nomination seekers of all 300 seats and are currently busy with sorting.

The final decision will be taken by Sunday or Monday.

In the mean time, the leaders said, they will discuss with the 20-party alliance and Oikya Front about seat sharing.

“The BNP is currently busy with finalising their party candidates. We hope the seat sharing discussion will be held by Saturday or Sunday,” a leader of Jatiya Oikya Front and convener of Nagorik Oikya Mahmudur Rahman Manna told Prothom Alo.

Several highly placed leaders in the BNP said they have been considering keeping one or two alternative candidates ready for each constituency, should any first choice get overlooked in the sorting.

The BNP and the alliance partners said they will select candidates based on a few criteria. Such candidates would include those who have greater chance to win, those who have stronghold at the field level and financial capability alongside educational qualifications, and those who have experience in fighting polls and acceptability among the people of the constituency.

Death of many senior leaders and age of many popular leaders will also force the BNP change its candidates.

Accordingly, standing committee members Jamir Uddin Sircar and former chief of army Mahbubur Rahman will not compete in the elections.

“I’m not competing in the polls as I’ve grown older. We should give way for the younger generation,” Mahbubur Rahman told Prothom Alo on Friday.

Standing committee member Tariqul Islam died this November while ASM Hannan Shah, Khandker Delwar Hossain, M Shamsul Islam and RA Gani, former deputy speaker Akhter Hamid Siddiqui and former state minister Fazlur Rahman (Patal) passed away in the past few years.

BNP standing committee member and also 20-party alliance coordinator Nazrul Islam Khan said, “We’ve agreed to select candidates who have maximum chance to win. Nepotism won’t be entertained since we’re competing in the polls in a completely hostile environment.”

*This report, originally published in Prothom Alo print edition, has been rewritte in English by Shameem Reza