If a “fair consensus” on seat distribution is not reached within the next 48 hours, the 29 allied parties of BNP have announced that they will turn away from BNP and form a new electoral alliance.
Due to the ongoing distance over seat-sharing, the parties held a meeting and conveyed this message to the BNP. The message was delivered to BNP from a meeting lasting about two hours at the Nagarik Oikya office in Paltan, Dhaka, on Wednesday afternoon.
Top leaders from 29 parties, including the 5-party alliance’s Ganatantra Mancha, the 12-party alliance, the Gono Odhikar Parishad, the Jatiyatabadi Shomomona Jote, the Nezam-e-Islami Party, and Gonoforum, participated in the meeting.
After the meeting concluded in the evening, Dr Fariduzzaman Farhad, chief coordinator of the Jatiyatabadi Shomomona Jote and Chairman of the National People’s Party, told TIMES of Bangladesh, “We 29 parties held a meeting. From there, Democracy Platform leader Saiful Haq phoned BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, Standing Committee members Nazrul Islam Khan, Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury, and Iqbal Hasan Mahmud Tuku and said, if we do not reach a fair seat consensus within two days, we will form an alternative alliance.”
Present at the meeting were Gono Odhikar Parishad leaders Mahmudur Rahman Manna, Saiful Haq, Zonayed Saki, and other top leaders of the 5-party alliance; 12-party alliance chief and Jatiya Party (Zafar) Chairman Mostafa Jamal Haider and coordinator of Jatiya Dal Advocate Ehsanul Haque; Gono Odhikar Parishad President Nurul Haque Nur; chief coordinator of the Jatiyatabadi Shomomona Jote Fariduzzaman Farhad; Gonoforum leader Advocate Subrata Chowdhury; Nezam-e-Islami Party’s Ashraful Islam, among many others.
Advocate Ehsanul Haque, coordinator of the 12-party alliance and Chairman of Bangladesh Jatiya Dal, told TIMES, “The meeting of top leaders of the alliance or parties discussed BNP’s undervaluation and injustice. Many have also expressed strong resentment. We have asked BNP, which leads the alliance, for evaluation based on fairness. It is painful to think that at the very last moment, BNP would act in such a manner without any discussion with comrades who have been together through long difficult times.”
At the meeting, top leaders of the parties said that while BNP’s rival Jamaat is extending friendship, BNP is pushing its allies away. Surprise was also expressed at the party’s sudden changes.
Ahead of the upcoming parliamentary election, BNP has announced candidates for 272 seats in two phases. There are still 28 seats vacant. It has been stated from BNP that mostly allies will contest in these vacant seats. However, there are whispers that attempts are being made to field the party’s own candidates in many seats as well.
