AL nomination aspirants busy lobbying party high-ups

Shawdesh Desk:

With the schedule for the next general election set to be announced soon, Awami League nomination aspirants are now busy lobbying the party high-ups to get the ruling party ticket for contesting the polls.

However, the party is looking for best faces to field as candidates to pave the way for its win for the fourth consecutive term.

The Election Commission has said the election schedule will be announced very soon to hold the 12th parliamentary elections following the constitutional obligation.

Sources said the schedule might come in a couple of days and voting is likely to be held in the first or second week of January next.

According to AL insiders, the ruling party still thinks BNP will finally join the election.

It will be hard for the AL to overcome the challenges with the candidates who do not have popularity among the people if the BNP participates in the polls.

Keeping this in mind, the ruling party is taking preparations for the polls.

As a result, a number of unpopular ministers and lawmakers who have become controversial for their misdeeds and in other ways will be dropped this time to secure the party’s win in the polls.

Instead, competent leaders who are well-accepted to people in their respective areas will be given priority as candidates so that they can attract voters and increase the voter turnout in the election.

Awami League President and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has also put emphasis on the matter.

In the recent AL Working Committee Meeting, she said, “Whoever can increase voter participation will be nominated by the party in the next general election. BNP will participate in the election. That’s why we should be prepared.”

Pointing to the nomination seekers, she said, “The tendency to win unopposed must be avoided. All candidates must be prepared to win competitive votes on their own merits.”

The nomination seekers who have popularity in their respective areas are carrying out mass communications in their constituencies and lobbying the high command to convince them that they will come out victorious if they are given nomination.

However, the party leaders with less or no popularity are also busy lobbying the senior leaders to get the nomination.

The AL leaders said attracting more voters and increasing voter turnout on the polling day will be a major indicator for the aspirants to secure the party’s nomination.

Political analysts think increasing the presence of voters in the next election will be a challenge for the ruling party, particularly if BNP does not join it.

Meanwhile, AL grassroots leaders have been working for long to increase voters’ participation in the polls and making the election competitive and festive.

They have been carrying out organisational activities, including membership collection and renewal, from union to ward levels and forming party committees for every polling station across the country.

General Secretary of Iswarganj upazila Awami League in Mymensingh Safir Uddin Ahmed told the Daily Sun, “In our upazila, we’ve completed membership recruitment and renewal in all 180 wards. In every ward, at least 200 people from several 200 families filled up forms spontaneously under the party’s membership recruitment and renewal programme.”

“We covered every ward. Increasing party leaders’ public engagements and ensuring the participation of voters in the next election are the main goal of our membership recruitment and renewal programme,” he said.

The AL leader said they have created a smart database of the registered activists with proper information and documents.

At the same time, the Awami League has been forming polling station-wise committees across the country under district units.

In this regard, Netrokona district Awami League Organising Secretary Rezaul Hafiz Reshim said, “We’re forming committees with people from all walks of people, including women. Every committee has 200 members and there’re 50 women there.”

He said, “Those who were leaders and activists of Awami League during its bad times are being included in the committees. A well-respected person from each area is being made convener of the committee. All leaders of Awami League and associate bodies of respective areas are members of the committees.”

Reshim said, “These committees are being formed to make people election-oriented and increase the participation of voters in the election.”

Awami League Presidium member AHM Khairuzzaman Liton said, “Our leader Sheikh Hasina has already finalised the party nominations against all 300 seats. But she is still observing and monitoring all probable candidates closely.”