The ruling Awami League has finalized final 240 candidates along with its alliance partners for the upcoming 11th parliamentary election.
Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader made the announcement during a press briefing at the party president's political office in Dhaka’s Dhanmondi on Friday.
"We have nominated the candidates who can win," Quader said.
“We will share 55-60 seats with alliance partners including HM Ershad-led Jatiya Party (JaPa).”
He also indicated that his party shared three seats with grand alliance partner Jukta Front and will share around 40 to 42 seats with Jatiya Party (JaPa).
The party has also started distributing letters to candidates who will contest the upcoming general election under the boat symbol, said Quader.
“List of 300 candidates will be finalized within tonight (Friday) and it will be submitted to the Election Commission tomorrow (Saturday).”
Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JaSad-Inu) got three seats, Bangladesh Workers Party got five, Bangladesh Tarikat Federation (BTF) got two, Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JaSaD-Ambia) got one, and Jatiya Party (Manju) got two.
Quader also said Awami League has fixed candidates in 17 constituencies, where the ruling party had earlier announced multiple candidates.
They are-- Shireen Sharmin from Rangpur 6, Nizamuddin Jalil John from Naogaon 5, Shahidul Islam Bakul from Natore 1, BM Kobirul Haque from Narail 1, Dhirendra Debnath Shambhu from Barguna 1, ASM Firoz Rashid in Patuakhali 1, Tanvir Hasan from Tangail 2, Abul Kamal Azad from Jamalpur 1, Mozaffor Hossain from Jamalpur 5, Syed Ashraful Islam from Kishoreganj 1, Habibir Rahman Mollah from Dhaka 5, Haji Mohammad Selim from Dhaka 7, Akbar Hossain Pathan (Faruk) from Dhaka 17, Mohiuddin Khan Alamgir from Chandpur 1, Nurul Amin Ruhul from Chandpur 2, Muhammad Shafiqur Rahman from Chandpur 4 and AKM Shahjahan Kamal from Lakshmipur 3.
The distribution process formally started through the handover of the nomination letter for Rangpur 6 constituency to Speaker Shirin Sharmin on Thursday night. Other candidates from the Awami League-led alliance began getting their letters on Friday morning.
“If the alliance partners want to contest the election with their electoral symbols they can do so,” Quader said.
Replying to a question, Quader claimed that Awami League has no problems with JaPa Chairman HM Ershad.
Meanwhile, Ershad has been admitted to a hospital and he alleged that the government has barred him from going abroad for treatment.
The 11th general election is scheduled to be held across Bangladesh on December 30.