The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) is streamlining its candidate selection process for the upcoming 13th Jatiya Sangsad (national parliamentary) election.
As part of this strategy, the party is keeping multiple potential candidates in mind for each constituency, according to BNP standing committee member Salahuddin Ahmed.
Speaking to journalists today, Monday, after placing flower wreath at the grave of Ziaur Rahman, the founder of BNP, at Sher-e-Bangla Nagar in the capital, marking the 47th founding anniversary of Jubo Dal, Salahuddin Ahmed said, “We have spoken to multiple qualified aspirants for every constituency across Bangladesh.”
During the 11th parliamentary election in 2018, the BNP had nominated multiple candidates in a single constituency, and several had submitted nomination papers simultaneously.
Party leaders at the time said this was a strategy to ensure that if any candidate’s nomination was cancelled, the constituency would not go uncontested for the BNP in the election, held under the Awami League government.
For the upcoming 13th parliamentary election, scheduled to be held in February next year, the BNP in its next standing committee meeting is set to finalise its list of more than 200 nominees to contest the election with the “sheaf of paddy” symbol.
The party also has to consider the issue of leaving some seats vacant for allies within its coalition.
Salahuddin Ahmed said that even though multiple candidates are being shortlisted per seat, the party is placing emphasis on unity.
“We want to send out this one message that unity must prevail within our party and within the nation. Unity within the nation is our greatest strength. To maintain that unity we want to ensure that no one takes the path of division, that’s the message we want to send” he said.
Mentioning that the BNP plans to form a new alliance with parties that had been part of the simultaneous movement alongside them, Salahuddin Ahmed stated, “Building on the continuity of our movement, we will form a wider political coalition comprising all anti-fascist forces.”
Regarding the BNP’s plan to engage the country’s youth, Salahuddin Ahmed said, “We have travelled across Bangladesh to gather the political thoughts and aspirations of the youth. We are now designing programmes to channel those ideas into the nation-building process. We hope Bangladesh will become a youth-driven country.”
Among others, Jubo Dal president Abdul Monayem Munna, general secretary Nurul Islam Nayon, and thousands of leaders and activists from the BNP and its affiliated organisations were present at the time.