Awami League aspirants in each of the 300 parliamentary constituencies are eagerly waiting the ruling party’s permission to contest the upcoming general election, scheduled to be held on December 30.
The Awami League began the distribution of nomination forms on November 9, with aspirants given until 6pm on Tuesday to submit their completed papers.
All those who did will have to pass interviews scheduled to be held from Wednesday at the party chief Sheikh Hasina’s political office in Dhanmondi.
“The Awami League Parliamentary Board (ALPB) will start interviewing the aspirants from 11am with PM Hasina presiding over the session,” Awami League joint general secretary Mahabubul Alam Hanif told reporters at a press briefing on Monday night.
The ruling party increased the price of nomination papers from Tk25,000 to Tk30,000 for this election.
Despite the rise, Mahabubul Alam Hanif said a total of 4,023 nomination seekers collected forms.
However, Awami League leaders who distributed and collected nomination forms told the Dhaka Tribune that a total of 3,628 forms had been sold.
Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader and the party’s Religious Affairs Secretary Sheikh Abdullah bought nomination forms for the Gopalganj 3 and Rangpur 6 constituencies on behalf of Awami League chief and prime minister, Sheikh Hasina.
52 aspirants in a single seat
While a huge number of aspirants collected forms for each of the 300 seats, the demand for Barguna-1 constituency exceeded all expectations.
A total of 52 aspirants have collected and submitted their nomination forms and are now awaiting the Awami League’s nod to contest the polls from the seat currently held by Dhirendra Debnath Shambhu MP.
His challengers include Barguna district AL General Secretary Jahangir Kabir, Awami League Office Secretary Abdus Sobhan Golap told the Dhaka Tribune.
Sources from Awami League claimed that most of the aspirants are dummy candidates and supporters of either Shambhu or Jahangir.
In a total of eight constituencies, by onctrast, only one nomination seeker has submitted a nomination form.
Single candidate from eight constituencies’ are: Awami League Chief Sheikh Hasina from (Gopalganj 3), General Secretary Obaidul Quader (Noakhali 5), presidium member Sheikh Fazlul Karim Selim (Gopalganj 2), central committee member Abul Hasnat Abdullah (Barishal 1), Hasina's cousins Sheikh Helaluddin (Bagerhat 1) and Sheikh Jewel (Khulna 2), Shahab Uddin (Maulvibazar), and Noor-E-Alam Chowdhury from (Madaripur 1).
Awami League wants dedicated candidates
According to Awami League high ups, the candidates will have to face a tough competition as a huge number of candidates including Jatiya Oikya Front and other political parties will contest the upcoming general election.
Consequently the Awami League is seeking “popular, loyal and dedicated” candidates for its party.
The Awami League's nomination seekers have been asked to describe in the nomination paper their families' role during the Liberation War in 1971, after the assassination of the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in 1975, and during the political changeover in 2007.
Joint AL general secretary Abdur Rahman told the Dhaka Tribune that the Awami League had faced the biggest challenge after the killing of the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu and his family members.
“Also Awami League encountered crisis when army-backed caretaker government put Sheikh Hasina behind bars and some of its leaders tried to keep her out of politics, so the Awami League has asked them to describe their roles during these periods,” Rahman said.
Several celebrities have submitted nomination forms, including Bangladesh ODI cricket captain Mashrafe Bin Mortaza, who collected his papers for Narail-2 on Sunday.
Other aspirants include former Bangladesh high commissioner to Australia Lt Gen (retd) Masud Uddin Chowdhury (Feni-3), film actors Farooque Pathan and Shakil Khan, and TV personalities Shomi Kaiser and Rokeya Prachi.
Oikya Front demand ‘illogical’
Separately on Tuesday, Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader dismissed a demand from Dr Kamal Hossain-led Jatiya Oikya Front to defer the election for one month on the pretext of the international observers.
“It is an illogical and baseless demand,” Quader said while addressing a press conference at Awami League Chief Sheikh Hasina’s Dhanmondi office.
“The whole nation is now in election mood. People will resist BNP if it tries to plot any movement.”