BNP races to finalise seat sharing with allies for polls
Alongside confirming its own candidates, the BNP is moving fast to finalise seat-sharing arrangements with its allies as part of preparations to contest the upcoming national election in alliance with right, left, moderate and liberal democratic parties.
As the party earlier announced it would form a national government, if elected, BNP senior leaders said they are open to sharing a sufficient number of seats with coalition partners based on their competence, experience, acceptability and popularity.
The party has already requested lists of potential candidates from its allies who have been engaged in the anti-fascist movement and struggle over the past 15 and a half years, said a BNP Standing Committee member, wishing not to be named.
He said their Standing Committee meeting on Tuesday night discussed the issue of finalising nominations with allied partners as soon as possible so that uncertainties over candidates and constituencies are removed and campaign activities can begin.
The BNP leader said they will soon start formal discussions with the alliance partners of the anti-Awami League simultaneous movement on forming an electoral alliance.
He said the party high command is considering which candidates from its partners are capable of winning, their qualifications and popularity, as well as who their rival candidates might be.
The BNP leader said they want to complete seat-sharing negotiations with the like-minded parties by October and then instruct party leaders and workers in those constituencies to work in unity with the allies.
Another BNP Standing Committee member said they have already sent messages to party leaders and workers in some constituencies where it has been decided to share seats with alliance partners.
He said they want to bring more parties, including the National Citizen Party and other Islamic and left-leaning ones, into the fold of their alliance, and negotiations will continue until the election schedule is announced.
The BNP leader said initially, 42 parties joined the simultaneous movement with BNP, and later another 10 came on board. “Altogether, leaders of 52–53 parties have struggled with us on the streets and endured jail. We will duly recognise them.”
The BNP leader, however, said they will be very cautious in sharing seats with alliance partners since, under the new RPO, these parties will no longer have the option to contest the election with BNP’s symbol, the 'Sheaf of Paddy', as they did in the past.
For those allies who cannot be nominated, he said, BNP will recognise their contributions in other ways “For instance, if some senior leaders cannot contest elections due to age or other reasons, the BNP leadership will assure them that, if it forms government, they will be considered for accommodation as technocrat ministers or in the upper house.”
The BNP leader said they are aware that Jamaat-e-Islami has already announced candidates for all 300 constituencies and started preparations and large-scale campaigning in advance.
“Jamaat is a hardline right-wing cadre-based party, whereas BNP is a liberal democratic party. Even though Jamaat has finalised single candidates in every constituency, we see no problem with it since Jamaat hardly has any popular candidates. But BNP has three or four nomination seekers in nearly every seat, many of them popular locally. That is why BNP cannot announce candidates in all constituencies before the official election schedule, as doing so could trigger divisions and grouping,” he said.
The BNP leader said they have already directed around 150 prospective candidates to begin working in their constituencies. “These heavyweight leaders were traditionally allotted those seats in the past as well. For the remaining 150 seats, we will decide after careful scrutiny whether to field our own candidates or allocate them to allies.”
He, however, said although many candidates have received preliminary green signals, this does not constitute final nomination. “BNP will form a Parliamentary Board to finalise nominations, and that board will make the ultimate decisions.”
The BNP leader said they are collecting details on potential candidates from local leaders and also carrying out surveys to find the most suitable and popular ones. “We plan to complete the informal selection of both the party and alliance candidates by next month.”
BNP sources said Liaison Committee members Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury and Iqbal Hasan Mahmud have been tasked with liaising with left-leaning and some democratic parties, while Nazrul Islam Khan, Abdul Awal Mintu, and Borakotulla (Bulu) are handling talks with Islamist and other parties.
Contacted, BNP Standing Committee member Dr Abdul Moyeen Khan said they have had preliminary discussions with alliance partners. “We will follow up with another round to structure it properly. Those who participated in the anti-fascist movement will be properly recognised and our party is very positive about them.”
When asked how many seats the allies want, he said, “They have many demands. They want a lot of seats. But we will decide after checking all the field surveys. Our responsible leaders are studying on the ground to see in which seats giving nomination to whom can ensure victory.”
Responding to another question, he said BNP’s candidates in around 100–150 seats are already settled. “That means each of these has one candidate. Work is going on in the seats where there are multiple aspirants.”
Another BNP Standing Committee and Liaison Committee member, Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury, told UNB that they will surely evaluate the partners of their simultaneous movement and like-minded parties by sharing seats and in many other ways.
He said they will soon engage in both formal and informal discussions with the alliance partners to learn about their preferences and possible aspirants. “We will then finalise seat-sharing with them.”
Khosru, however, declined to comment on how many seats may be shared with their alliance partners.