JS polls: AL announces candidates for 298 seats

The ruling Awami League has announced candidates for 298 constituencies for the upcoming 12th national election but did not announce any candidates for Kushtia-2 and Narayanganj-5 constituencies.

AL General Secretary Obaidul Quader announced the names of the candidates at a press conference at the party's headquarters in the capital's Bangabandhu Avenue on Sunday (26 November).

The 12th Jatiya Sangsad election was announced for 7 January. The Election Commission made the announcement on 15 November amid staunch objections from the opposition parties, including the BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami.

The schedule was declared amid hartals and blockades being observed since 28 October by the AL and Jamaat-e-Islami, among other parties.

Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Habibul Awal, announcing the schedule during a live telecast from the Nirbachan Bhaban, invited all parties to participate in the polls as "there is an environment of holding free, fair and participatory polls".

He also stated that political parties will be able to submit nominations for candidacies till 30 November.

The BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami have both said they would not go for elections unless it is under a caretaker government. 

Even before the announcement, the Islami Andolon Bangladesh had said it would lay siege to the EC premises as it did not support a "one-sided election." 

In view of the objections, major areas and cities of the country were covered in security through the deployment of police, Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) and the Border Guards Bangladesh (BGB). 

Business leaders on Tuesday (14 November) also urged the FBCCI to meet the BNP and AL to urge them not to hold programmes that could hurt the economy, already under strain of a decade high in food inflation reaching 12.56% in October.

The contentions haven't only come nationally. 

Prior to the EC telecast, US Ambassador Peter Haas had handed out letters sent by US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Donald Lu – calling for "dialogue without preconditions" – among the AL, the BNP and the Jatiya Party.

Similar calls have emerged from the UK and even top rights bodies, such as the United Nations.

On 31 October, ruling out the possibility of a dialogue with the BNP, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said she would do so only if the United States President Joe Biden did the same with former US president and 2024 presidential candidate Donald Trump.

Reacting to Donald Lu's letter,  Awami League General Secretary and Minister of Road Transport and Bridges Obaidul Quader earlier today also  rejected the possibility of engaging in dialogue with opposition parties to resolve the ongoing political deadlock.

Although the impasse has been bubbling beneath the surface for years, it came to a head following a rally called by the BNP on 28 October to push home its demand for elections to be held under a caretaker government. 

The rally was suspended midway by BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul, who also announced a hartal for the next day. 

On the next day, Fakhrul was arrested by police.  

This was followed by arrests of other BNP leaders, including Amir Khosru and Moazzem Hussain. 

The BNP hartal and the subsequent blockades it announced in the following days were joined by the Jamaat-e-Islami and other parties, who held similar demands. 

Meanwhile, the Election Commission will scrutinise the nomination submissions from 1-4 December. Appeals against the nominations can be submitted from 6-5 December and nominations need to be withdrawn by 17 December.

The CEC also said political parties will be able to distribute symbols within 18 December and the election campaign will officially kick off on 18 December. The campaign duration will end on 8:00am on 5 January.

To conduct the election on 300 constituencies, the EC has appointed a total of 66 returning officer and 592 assistant returning officer.