The Awami League has softened its stance on expelled rebel candidates by giving them a last chance to get back membership if they pull out of the race and throw their weights behind party-nominated mayoral candidates.
The ruling party went soft soon after the BNP-led 20-party alliance announced that it would participate in the election jointly in 234 municipal polls on December 30.
AL sources said, the party was not comfortable after expelling 78 municipal leaders in 60 districts who are contesting the upcoming elections independently, ignoring the party order to pull out.
After the BNP announced its own election monitoring committee, AL leaders who are assigned to look after municipal election, sat at a meetings at the party President and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s political office at Dhanmondi, the source confirmed.
He said the rebel candidates’ expulsion from the party is not the only solution rather it will weaken the party in grassroots level and throw a real challenge for the party-nominated candidates.
After Khaleda’s instruction to party leaders that they would take part in the polls united the AL leaders sat at a meeting at the Dhanmondi office yesterday.
Emerging out of the meeting Awami League Joint General Secretary Mahbub Alam Hanif in a brie told journalists that local leaders who works for rebel candidates must also face expulsion.
Replying to a question he said if any expelled rebel candidate pulls out of the polls race before December 30 he will be given back the party membership.
However, according to our district correspondents’ information and AL sources, no expelled rebel candidates of 60 districts had changed their decision till yesterday. Rather several Awami League candidates were involved in clashes with rebels yesterday.
In Hatia municipality of Noakhali district supporters of Awami League mayoral candidate AKM Yusuf Ali and rebel aspirant Yusuf Uddin Ahmed were locked in clash leaving several persons of both groups injured.
