Awami League Joint General Secretary AFM Bahauddin Nasim said the upcoming election will be fair, and competitive where people will vote for their favourite candidate and make them win.
“We seek fair competition in the election. Our goal is an energized and inspiring election, where people freely vote for their favored candidates. The most popular candidates should win,” he said during an event on Wednesday.
He highlighted that the constitution recognizes independent candidacy in elections, allowing many Awami League members to participate this way. “The Awami League has not limited party members from running election independently this time,” he added.
Bahauddin Nasim said: “We are in discussion with 14 parties and the Jatiya Party. These are political discussions. Through these discussions, we aim to prioritize discussions on ensuring a fair and thorough 12th National Parliamentary Election.”
He said: The 12th parliamentary election will be held peacefully. We want all those who have submitted nomination papers and got legitimacy to participate in the election. There is no obstacle in this case. There is no thought in our team to stop anyone.”
"Some political parties or alliances may think if their candidates align with the government, their parties might not be respected if they choose not to align with the government. In these cases, we want to explicitly state from the side of the Awami League that we aspire to give respect to all political parties. At least, for those on the side of the liberation war and democratic political parties, we hold our respect. We want to respect everyone as a political party, not based on the number of leaders. For this reason, our discussions and conversations are ongoing. These discussions and conversations will continue further," he added.
He said: “We believe that all registered political parties should participate in elections. There's no barrier to their participation. Except for Jamaat-e-Islami, there's no legal complexity for any registered party's participation in elections. We want a democratic environment to prevail intact. Those who haven't participated in elections must be accountable to the people of their country.”
He further added: “For Bangladesh to move forward, all of us need to work. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has transformed Bangladesh and done a lot of development work. To take this transformed Bangladesh forward, everyone needs to unite and lead Bangladesh towards prosperity. We want to take Bangladesh to a dignified position on the world map.”
