Jatiya Party reassured about fair polls after discussion with Awami League: Chunnu

Jatiya Party (JaPa) Secretary General Mujibul Haque Chunnu said today his party has been reassured by the ruling Awami League about free and fair polls following a meeting last evening. 

"We held a closed-door meeting with Awami League on Wednesday (6 December) night regarding the upcoming election. We have been fairly reassured by the Awami League. There was no discussion on seat distribution," he said during a press conference at the JaPa chairman's office at Banani on Thursday (7 December).

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"Seat sharing was not discussed at the meeting, there does not seem to be any need for it," Chunnu added.

As the ruling party, Awami League has reassured that the upcoming election will be free and fair, he said. 

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"They have promised not to unnecessarily harass, attack and threaten our activists during the election. We are quite convinced by their assurances. The rest will be understood in future proceedings," said the JaPa leader.

"We decided to join the election. But in the last 5 years, we have seen how there has been partisan behaviour during the local elections. We still have doubts about the election, therefore we held discussions with Awami League," Chunnu added.

Earlier, JaPa announced that it would be contesting in the upcoming national polls with its own party symbol (the plough), but not as a part of any alliance.

After over two decades and three consecutive national polls, the JaPa has fielded candidates for over 200 seats to contest nationwide in the upcoming 12th parliamentary election, announcing names for 287 seats.

The party expresses its ambition to field candidates in all 300 seats but acknowledges that in the end, there may be 2 to 1 seats left vacant.